


In the line of friendship

by camiwrites



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship/Love, Jealousy, Kidnapping, Love, Realization, Secret Identity, Sexual Content, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-07
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-06 11:32:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 53,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3132869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camiwrites/pseuds/camiwrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being kidnapped 5 years ago, Oliver Queen fears that someone, maybe linked to his kidnapping and murder of his father, might be trying to sabotage his company. He goes to the one person he trust the most for help, a friend who secretly has loved him for years. AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Office days

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notes: Hello! If you are reading this then welcome as another obsessed Arrow fan here. This is my first fic on the Arrow and here in AO3, and in English. Please know English is not my first language, so if you see any error please let me know and I will fix it asap. Other than that enjoy!

 

                    

Felicity Smoak was a pretty blonde with long straight hair and pale skin full of light brown colored freckles, she had bright blue eyes that normally were hidden behind thick rim glasses and expressive eyebrows. She wasn't particularly tall at 5'5", she was thin but not too skinny, she was just an average girl with normal problems.   

 

She had been working for Queen Consolidate as a IT girl for the past three years. She had always been great at fixing things, coding, finding things in the Internet, hacking computers; it was all second nature for her, unlike social skills where she was an awkward mess when it came to having a normal social life.

 

She was from a small town in the Midwest, and four years ago she had moved to Star City to pursue her dream job after graduating with merits from MIT University.

 

She had been working hard to get promoted, to have her own team  that it will come with a nice corner office in the 15th floor, a nice raise. Sure it was a lot of work, but she had already been doing the job for months, she just needed the title and the money.

 

That afternoon Felicity was waiting in the same diner she always went for lunch when she wanted to think and it was to hot out to take a walk around the block, she was sipping on her sweet iced tea while waiting on her food. Thinking about work and life in general, thinking about the possibility of getting a cat, and the fact that it was her turn to do the dishes when she returned home.

 

She felt a hand on her bare shoulder and jumped a bit on her place, slightly startled by the stranger's touch. Turning around on her place she smiled when her eyes recognized whom it was.

 

“Hey there” she said in a tired voice while a warm feeling rushed through her body and she could feel her stomach move in place as he sat next to her. It was Oliver, her good friend and boss, who happened to be the man she had had a crush for the past year and a half.

 

It had been a Tuesday afternoon when Oliver Queen, the son of the CEO of the company had dropped by her humble cubicle two years ago with a problem with his personal computer. Someone had hacked to his system and was draining some of his accounts from outside of the country. The laptop had a really horrible virus back then, but nothing three good cups of coffee and hours of cleaning up couldn’t fix.

 

After that incident she had practically become Oliver’s personal to go person when there was an issue with any of his electronic devices. Back then he had only been managing his nightclub, now he was the CEO of the company and her friend.

He was very tall, fit and had very short blonde hair and blue eyes, he was white but slightly tan from going hiking often, and that afternoon he was wearing his typical gray suit, white shirt and black tie. 

 

He had a peaceful look to him, but a haunted one as well. He was not the same guy that was always in the tabloids 7 years ago, when he had been kidnapped on a trip to South America for ransom, along with his dad, his ‘girlfriend’ and the chauffer. He had been the only survivor, only having returned home two years ago.

 

Oliver hadn’t wanted to take the place of his dad as the President of the company when he returned, but instead opening his own business. He had reluctantly taken over the company over half of a year ago.

 

“Having a late lunch?” he asked with a small turn on one of the corners of his lips to form a smile, his eyes scanning the place. He was always alert.

 

“Yes, lost track of time again, you know with the whole system going down yesterday and the company loosing a lot of the hard drives… the usual IT ‘fun’ problems” she answered while playing with the empty paper of her straw with a slight wrinkle on her nose.

 

“Well, if you had taken my assistant job as I offered it to you months ago, you wouldn’t have to eat late…” he said with a now broad smile, Felicity was going to answer back a snarky comment about how she was a prepared woman, etc, but the waitress was there to take his order.

 

“Hi Mr. Queen, haven't seen you here for a while, where have you been?” asked the waitress in a friendly tone that was slightly flirtatious, Felicity noted.

 

“I have been out of town for a couple weeks, visiting the office in New York...” he explained lightly, the waitress nodded and got out her little notepad ready for his order.

 

“Well I am glad you are back, we miss you very much” she said warmly with a smile “so do you want the same... an Americano, and a club sandwich with sweet potato fries?”

 

“You know it” he said as an affirmation, putting that happy façade he always had on with people that were strangers to him, she knew him better now.

 

“I will bring your food right away Felicity, I am sorry for the delay but today Jonas is out and we have a new cook”

 

“It is fine Cherry, you can bring my stuff when Oliver’s is ready” the waitress smiled while nodding turning around and leaving them alone once again.

 

“Don't you ever get tired of ordering the same thing over and over again?” Felicity asked shaking her head “they have a lot of other tasty things in here”

 

“Yes I know... but I like the routine of it” he said simply.

 

“You just don’t want to tell her you want something different” she said her mouth turning up on a mocking smile; he turned his eyes towards the waitress and sustained his slight smile.

 

“Maybe…”

 

“When did you get here?” she asked changing the subject before sipping some more of her tea.

 

“A couple hours ago, it was a long trip... the office in New York was a mess so I am glad I got to go and talked to Isobel about some strategies” he said before thanking Cherry for his fresh coffee

 

“I am sure she is quite capable of managing the office by herself now that my dad is gone... but, I don’t know she seems a bit off to me, Walter seems to trust her”

 

“Walter trusts her with what?” Felicity asked slightly confused.

 

“Well my dad’s friend George was the one that put Isobel on charge of New york in the first place, assuring me that she was shadowing my father before our… before he was gone... and Walter trusts what my father did before leaving so... New York is stuck with Isobel for a while”

 

“Oliver… you _are_ the CEO, if you don’t like her you can always find someone who you trust to do her job” Felicity said but he didn’t smile at her, his lips parting slightly and his brow furrowing.

 

“She seems too young to have the experience in managing a facility that size, but so am I… seems hypocrite of me to question her based on age alone, since she has all the qualifications and strength to do it, and my own father who knew how to do this a lot better than I put her there” there was a silence in between both of them and Felicity put her hand on top of his forearm and squeezed it slightly.

 

“Well I am glad you are back, we missed you tons” she said truthfully.

 

“You and who else?” he asked.

 

“And Digg of course” Diggle was Oliver’s chauffer and bodyguard.

 

“I bet you guys where being lazy for two straight weeks” he joked.

 

“I won't deny that” she said back grinning “it’s much less stressful without all the meetings in the mornings, and I had to see less of Louise and Joyce which it’s always a bonus” Joyce was Oliver’s assistant and Louise was Felicity’s supervisor.

 

“They aren't as bad as you say they are, and you know you have Joyce’s job if you want it” Felicity shot him a murderous look and he grinned even wider.

 

“I don’t want _her_ job…” she murmured, she had not talked to Oliver about her reaching to become a IT supervisor, because she didn’t want the fact that they were friends clouding on her job, she didn’t want people talking on the hallways saying she got it because of him.

 

“Either way they might seem nice to you because Louise it's always kissing wherever you step on, and Joyce doesn't have a choice _but_ to be nice to you...” Oliver coughed very slightly and his cheeks were slightly flushed.

 

“Yeah, well that might be truth, but they both work hard” he defended. The food came in shortly after, and with a much lighter conversation they both ate and returned to work.

 

She didn't see Oliver again that day, but she was glad she got to talk to him even for a little while during lunch, that had definitely put a bright spot on her very tedious day.

 

****

 

She got home that day past 7 pm, Rachel who was her roommate and best friend was already home and cooking dinner for both of them. Rachel and Felicity had met in the University 6 years ago; they were going to two different careers, Felicity for her Bachelor’s in Computer Science and Rachel for hers in Art History.

 

They had a couple classes together at the beginning of the careers but they eventually went their separate ways, even though with classes, projects, long hours, and very little sleep they both stayed in touch through the whole course, and moved to Star City together.

 

“Look what the cat dragged in” Rachel said as a form of greeting, while carrying a large pot full of a steaming soup over to the table, where there were two plates and two cups of wine.

 

“That smells good” Felicity said walking towards the table after tossing her purse and keys on the couch. Rachel was a good head shorter than Felicity, with long brown wavy hair, skin as pale as marble and an hourglass figure to her petite frame.

 

Rachel was the better cook out of the two, and Felicity was always glad when it was her turn to cook dinner. She let herself fall down on the chair and breathed out exhausted, she had been working overtime for over a month now, to try to impress Louise, and get the recommendation she needed to be consider by the board for the supervisor position.

 

“So what is bothering you tonight?” Rachel asked coming back to the dinning room once again, holding a basket full of homemade buns that made Felicity’s stomach turn in hunger.

 

She sat next to her and served them soup as Felicity reached for the bread letting out a loud sight.

 

“Louise… somehow I feel like she is not going to put my name down for the next supervisor position that is opening up next week” she said in a tired voice, Rachel frowned shaking her head.

 

“That bitch… you deserve that job Lissy, don’t let her discourage you” she spat out and gave Felicity a small smile that the blonde returned “you can always talk to Oliver about it, I am sure he will do something to help you out”

 

“Or try to convince me to become his assistant again” Felicity said shaking her head and Rachel’s smile broaden.

 

“And why don’t you become his assistant? I am sure you wouldn’t mind seeing more of him than you do now… with all your love for him and all that, maybe he will finally wake up and take you on his office desk” Felicity’s eyes widen as her face turned bright red while chocking on her wine.

 

“Rachel!” she complained in a loud voice and her friend’s laughter only grew stronger.

 

“Oh c’mom, you know you have fantasized that many times over” Felicity opened her mouth to retour but closed her lips immediately knowing very well she couldn’t lie to Rachel even if she tried.

 

“Let’s not go over my stupid fantasies, that you and I know are pointless” she said in a soft bitter tone.

 

“Don’t beat yourself for liking Oliver Queen my friend, it’s hard not to like the dude, with him been extremely hot, rich, smart and charming” Felicity took a deep breath nodding before taking a large drink of wine.

 

“Yeah, thanks that surely makes it easier” felicity’s tone was full of irony.

 

“Lissy, I might not know Oliver as much as you do, he seems like a nice enough guy, but he does have that womanizer reputation… not sure he is the committing to one girl type of guy” she said, and it was not the first time she has said the same thing to Felicity.

 

“That was before…” Felicity started.

 

“Yeah, yeah… before the whole horrible kidnapping ordeal, I know” Rachel said quickly “but it is possible you just don’t know about who he is with, if he is seeing that old girlfriend of his”

 

Felicity’s heart shrunk on its place and Rachel’s hand squeezed her hand lightly. She was right and Felicity knew it.

 

“How pathetic is it that I don’t know what annoys me more, to be friend-zoned by a popular player who has not made move on me for 2 years, or that I am not relieved by the fact that he hasn’t tried to be with me that way?” there was a small silence in between both of them before Rachel’s spoke.

 

“Well you said it yourself, he is changed… maybe he doesn’t want to jeopardize his friendship with you in case things don’t work out”

 

“I guess… I need to free my mind of work and him”

 

“Then go out on a date, get laid… you need it” Felicity smiled.

 

“Yeah… I do” they both laughed and ate while talking bad about Louise, Rachel always made Felicity feel better about her situation, and by the time she was inside her covers she felt a lot lighter.

 


	2. Politics and Conversations

 

A few days had passed since she had seen Oliver in the Diner, this morning she wasn’t running late which meant she could go to the local coffee shop and get a well deserved cup of coffee and a pastry.

 

That day the board will meet and discuss with the supervisors at her floor about possible candidates to lead a new project to update the 25th floor computer systems and train some high executives on new software. She wore her best blue dress that hit a little bit over her knees and black pumps. She left her hair down and wore her favorite bright pink lipstick and dark blue eyeliner.

 

She didn’t consider her shoes when she decided to walk to the coffee shop and then to work that morning, but one sip to her artisan coffee made everything worth it.

 

The flaky crust of the blueberry scone melted on her mouth, buttery and sweet. She was walking slowly towards Queen consolidate when a black town car slowed down next to her on the sidewalk and the back window slowly rolled down showing seconds later an smiling Oliver.

 

“Well you are up early, I haven’t seen you getting coffee in months” he said once she approached the car while taking a sip of her coffee.

 

“Terrible assistant material” she said with a straight face but his smile only widen.

 

“But now you are bringing the subject on your own, I think we are making some progress… what do you think Dig?”

 

“I rather stay out of it…” Felicity heard Diggle’s voice from the front seat, and she only rolled her eyes to Oliver.

 

“You better get going, you are probably late to some kind of important meeting” she mentioned motioning her hand. But a few seconds later the door opened as he slid through the tan leather seat leaving her a space in the back to sit.

 

“It seems you will be needing a ride, wearing those shoes” she heard his voice.

 

She didn’t mind the walk but her feet were killing her and it would be nice to talk to both of them before seeing Louise for the morning, so without a word she just got in the car.

 

“Coffee on the cup holder Felicity” it was Dig’s voice, sounding threatening. Felicity locked her eyes with his through the review mirror and raised both eyebrows rushing to put her cup where it belonged.

 

“You are such a hard ass Dig” she said shaking her head.

 

“Last time you where in this car, with a cup of coffee I had to clean the stain for two hours… drinks and car rides don’t mix well with you”

 

“Touché” Felicity said, she adjusted her glasses in place and then turned around to see that Oliver had his eyes fixed on his window, strangely quiet that morning. They arrived quickly, and Felicity thanked Dig as he opened her door with a slight smile on his face, she returned it.

 

“I haven’t seen you in a while, how have you been?” he asked, now that she was not a threat to the car he seemed more his regular self.

 

“I am fine, been working a lot… the thing I mentioned to you last time we spoke, the stupid promotion I have been working for, the one I am probably never going to get” Dig handed her the coffee cup and his dark eyes flew towards Oliver who had just closed the door on the other side of the vehicle and was heading towards them.

 

“You should tell him about it, he might be able to help you”

 

“But that’s it Dig, I don’t want to get there just because Oliver and I are friends, I want to get there because I deserve it” she said, Oliver was closer to them and Felicity shot Dig a warning look.

 

“So did you see your boyfriend today?” it was Oliver’s voice, he had not talked much on the drive from the coffee shop, but he sounded more like himself. He was smirking and his eyes were fixed on her.

 

“Boyfriend?” she was confused turning to see how Dig was also smiling.

 

“The barista you probably have a crush on, from the coffee shop” Oliver said simply, his pearly white smile flashing as he waved hello to the guards in the front desk. Felicity flushed and shook her head.

 

The entrance of Queen Consolidate was beautiful and cold, glass chrome and elegant dark marble. The three of them were now in front of the elevator.

 

“That is why you are always walking blocks to go there in heels and dresses” he said as if it was obvious. They were both mocking her and she knew it, but the idea that he didn’t even seem to care about her having a crush on a coffee shop employee made her sad in the most stupid way.

 

“Maybe I do have a crush in a guy from the coffee shop” she said with a twitch on her lips.

 

“Do you leave your number in a napkin every morning?” she shot him a look as the elevator doors closed in front of them, Oliver quickly pressed the 15th floor number and then the 33th.

 

“You know me, the number writing type” she said ironically.

 

When the elevator slowed down on Felicity’s floor, she turned to both of them with a smile.

 

“I will see you guys around” she said.

 

“Hey Felicity” it was Dig’s voice and her heart stopped momentarily “you _deserve_ what we were talking about earlier, with help or not, always remember that”

 

She shot Dig a murderous look as he just grinned proudly as the doors closed slowly, she saw Oliver turned towards his body guard, his lips clearly asking what he meant.

 

Her heart was beating quickly as she walked towards her cubicle, making a mental note to never tell Dig anything that Oliver didn’t need to know. Which was little since Dig already knew about her feeling for the later one.

 

She let out a deep sight and let herself fall into her chair, for a moment her eyes were lost in the blue screen in front of her, before she started typing away codes, setting her mindset back to work.

 

The morning went by extremely slowly, there had been a meeting in which Louise was going to suggest a IT person to supervise the Nuvia project. Felicity felt her hands sweating when the door of the conference room opened and 4 people came out, three of them shook Louise hands and left shortly after.

 

Louise was a tall, thin woman, with straight light brown hair that fell thinly over her shoulders. She had a big nose and thin lips, and she was probably in her mid thirties. She wore a black and white polkadot dress that hugged the little curves she had.

 

“Meeting everyone!” she announced and everyone got up and exchanged looks with Felicity, most of them smiled at her and wished her good luck.

 

They sat on the conference table, Louise had the projector on with the Nuvia logo, she proceeded to explain how important this transition was for the company. Everyone was quiet in the room.

 

“After long time studying the candidates to direct this project we have come to the conclusion that the Nuvia project will be directed by Clementine” she said slowly her lips forming a large smile and her dark eyes going immediately to Felicity who had lost every color that was previously on her face.

 

“Congratulations” she then said after no one had clapped or said a word. Clementine who was at the very end of the table got up clumsily and quickly said how much the opportunity meant to her, her eyes not going to Felicity.

Slowly the It department who was gathered in that conference table started to clap, it took a while for Felicity to clap as well since she was still in complete shock by the news.

 

“Today Felicity will give you the ideas she has been working on for the past month so you can present it to Oliver in the next weeks meeting”

 

Felicity opened her mouth but nothing came out, and then she felt an elbow hitting her softly on her side, and as she turned she saw Emily visibly upset shaking her head while her lips moved silently saying, “say something”

 

“Louise” Felicity spoke slowly feeling all the eyes in the room burning through her, feeling exposed and vulnerable.

 

“Yes, Felicity?” she sounded cold and victorious.

 

“I... the scripts I have been working on aren't finished, if I could have a few more days, I could have the program working smoother to show the executives...”

 

“There is no need for that, Clementine will take it from here on... she will finish the idea for next week and you will go back into making the company’s firewall be more effective to prevent any more viruses” Felicity felt cold and angry like a wet hen.

 

The room fell quiet once again; everyone was feeling the tension in the room. The clock on the wall was louder than usual and Louise’s words were bitter. Felicity never knew how much Louise disliked her until that moment.

 

She was the most qualified to take the job, Clementine who at first had been taken aback seemed rejoiced by the news and was smiling brightly.

 

Louise then proceeded to change the subject and hit some points about the firewall and recent conversations that she had had with the superiors, to later said briefly about the new jobs that might be coming and how the coordinators were planning a party for the staff at the end of the summer.

 

Felicity on the other hand didn't pay much attention to the rest of the meeting, not really caring, too tired all of the sudden to even excuse herself and leave.

 

She was feeling a bit nauseous and was trying hard not to cry and have to give the pleasure to Louise who was mocking her with her eyes across the table. When the meeting was over she rushed away, avoiding making any contact with Louise or Clementine on the way out.

 

She let herself fall into her cubicle chair and put her face on both of her hands while taking a deep breath. She told herself than that was only a job, and that she could loose some and win some in the future. But her self-consoling didn't help much to the bitterness growing inside of her.

 

She heard quick passing outside her tall cubicle walls and seconds later Diana's head pocked through her curtain with a concerned face. She was a close friend from the department, and her arms were wrapped around Felicity before she could protest.

 

“I am so sorry this happened to you, you are stuck in some weird politics with Louise”

 

“Please don't do this” Felicity said in a stern voice, she hated being the one that everyone felt pity for, and she knew she was that person at that precise moment in the IT department.

 

“I am sorry” Diana said again “do you want me to go and key her car?” Felicity smiled.

 

“That sounds tempting, but I will hate seeing you in trouble or even worse loose your job just because I am not good enough”

 

“Don't say that because you well know that that wasn't the case here” Felicity sighed before starting collecting all her files and dropping them into a USB hard drive.

 

“Can I help you with anything though?” asked Diana “maybe buy you lunch?”

 

“Yes, actually it will be great if you could put this on Clementine's desk... I don't really feel like walking there” Diana smiled and took the USB drive from her hand and left the room without saying another word.

 

Felicity didn’t have anything against Clementine, it was a great opportunity for anyone and if there was someone in that room who wasn’t her own self that could do the job it was Clementine.

 

Felicity didn’t realized when she was in the elevator that she had pressed the button to the 33th floor until she was in the last floor of the building. Tons of light came through the large windows, and the air was crisper and cleaner in there.

 

She felt a knot on her stomach as she walked with a brisk pace towards his office, she saw him writing on a book in front of him, his brow slightly furrowed as he focused. Her hand grabbed the handle of the glass door of his office when someone cleared her throat loudly making her jump in her place.

 

“What do you think you are doing?” it was Joyce’s voice sounding annoyed.

 

“I was going to talk to Oliver really quickly” Felicity said, she was not sure why she was there in the first place, only that she needed a friend.

 

“Did he call you about something going on with his computer?” Felicity raised her eyebrow.

 

“No”

 

“Then he is busy” she said simply turning around on her heels giving a few steps to her desk, Felicity didn’t move, her hand still on the handle on the door. She hesitated as her hand dropped from the handle slowly.

 

She didn’t think Joyce knew that they were actually friends; it had never occurred to her that every time she had come upstairs he had called her. He did seem busy and she wasn’t in the mood to quarrel with Joyce.

 

She turned around and started to walk away slowly when she heard the door opening and his voice break the silence in the room.

 

“Felicity, is everything alright?” he sounded concerned, she turned towards him and couldn’t bring herself to smile, his blue eyes shot a glance to Joyce who seemed surprised on her desk.

 

“Joyce was telling me you were busy so I though we could talk another time” she said, he shook his head and signaled her with his hand to come inside his office.

 

“Joyce, if miss Smoak comes by next time just send her in” Joyce nodded silently, her big eyes following Felicity who had a ghost of a grin on her face as she walk inside the office.

 

 

Oliver closed the door behind himself and they both walked towards his desk, she took the sit in front of him and stared at him in silence as he sat down.

 

“Felicity, what is going on…?”

 

“Nothing” he turned his head slightly and pressed his lips.

 

“Okay” he did not believe one word “does this have anything to do with that promotion?”

 

“I will never tell anything to John Diggle ever again” she said frowning.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were wanting a promotion?” he asked after a moment of silence, his blue eyes fixed on her face.

 

“I just.. I didn’t want to tilt the balance just because we are friends Oliver”

 

“Felicity, does it look like I will give my personal computer to just anyone out there?” she shook her head “I think you are great at what you do and did so before we were friends”

 

“I guess I didn’t want to put anyone in a uncomfortable position and wanted to get there myself, without help” she said simply shrugging “much good that did me”

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” he asked frowning “I can make one call”

 

“No, please… I just wanted to talk to Oliver Queen, not the CEO but my friend” his eyes softened at her words.

 

“It’s hard for me to not want to help you when I can” he said finally and that made her smile.

 

“You are helping me now”

 

**This is going to be a slowly developing story; it will have a lot more Olicity going on in the next chapters, some drama and some fun moments with their relationship. Let me know what you though of this chapter!**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	3. Coffee shop encounters

 

 

It was Saturday morning as Felicity walked outside of her bedroom, towel drying her hair; the tiles of the floor were cold against her bare feet. It was late summer in Starlight City, but Rachel loved to keep their apartment freezing cold, especially during the night.

 

 

She was wearing her most comfy pair of jeans and a white worn in cotton t-shirt, she had put on a light swipe of makeup and her glasses rested on the tip of her button nose as her head shook with the intensity of her hands drying her hair.

 

 

She sleepy brain was going from the though of how much faster would it be to get ready in the morning if she had a pixy hair cut, to what she would order for breakfast on the coffee shop. She peeked around the living room finding a whole lot of mess in the dinning room table, papers waiting to be graded, a closed laptop and two cups of dirty coffee mugs.

 

 

She pressed her lips walking around trying to find her bright blue ballet flats, which she remember taking off around the living room the night before. She finally found them under the coffee table and put them on with clumsy movement after throwing the wet towel on the couch.

 

 

She hadn’t slept well for a few days; the whole issue with Louise and her missed promotion had messed up with her head, she also had the regular issue of her having a crush on a man that didn’t seem to see her the same way, and her recent determination of moving on.

 

 

She had seen the same guy in the coffee shop a few mornings in a row, he was tall, thin and handsome, with a gentle boyish face. She smiled remembering how the morning before she had forgotten her home keys in the table and he had brought them to her.

 

 

He had said his name was Barry, and Felicity had felt a rush of warmness in the pit of her stomach when she shook his hand. The attraction wasn’t the same that she felt for Oliver, but she had not seen a man in a year and a half and really being interested until now.

 

 

She smiled as she picked the towel from the couch and with a quick pace she went to leave it hanging in the bathroom. She though about asking Rachel if she wanted to come by with her, but then opted for not to, since her friend had probably been up late preparing her next class and grading some assignments.

 

 

 

The day was beautiful out, maybe 78 degrees F, and a light breeze that hugged her body as she walked outside enjoying the morning sunshine. She loved the walk towards the coffee shop, which was located only five blocks away from her apartment.

 

 

As she finally arrived she smiled brightly when the wall of the scent of coffee and bake goods surrounded her, and her mood got even better when she noticed a familiar shape of a man on one of the tables near the window. His blue eyes had risen from the laptop in front of him to her and a smile was now dancing around his features.

 

 

He was cute all right and it made her insides jump, so she raised her hand in a salute and walked nervously towards the front to order her food. She paid and walked around the bar to wait for her coffee when she noticed he had come to talk to her.

 

 

“I see that we both like the same spot for getting our morning coffee” he said as a hello and she smiled at him broadly.

 

 

“I think you have good taste at picking this coffee shop” she said, he nodded and seemed slightly nervous momentarily.

 

 

“You said your name was Felicity right?” she nodded smiling even broader, pleased that he remembered her name.

 

 

“That it is, Barry” and he smiled as well.

 

 

“So do you live close by here?” she nodded biting her lower lip, happy she had decided to wake up early that morning.

 

 

“And work close as well” she said, her voice sounded nervous.

 

 

“Me too!”

 

 

“Where do you work?” she asked curious, and she saw him answer but his lips moved silently as she noticed from the corner of her eyes a man walking by the shop. His back was straight and he was wearing a black tshirt and dark jeans. His hair was blonde and short, and he was strikingly handsome.

 

 

Felicity opened her eyes wide as she saw the handsome man that entering the coffee shop, she knew him well and she never had expected to see him that morning. Oliver looked around and smiled when his eyes met hers, rising his hand slightly to make a half wave.

 

 

Barry noticing her gaze turned slightly, his blue eyes meeting Oliver’s, Felicity saw Oliver’s smile disappear slowly and being replaced quickly by his much less friendly serious face.

 

 

Oliver hesitated for a second and then walked towards them, his jaw moving forward in a tight uncomfortable look, his eyes going from Barry to Felicity.

 

 

“Oliver” she said in a gasp, her eyes going nervously towards Barry and then the formal, feeling her heart going crazy at the moment as if she had been caught cheating, which was ridiculous

 

 

“I didn’t expect to see you over here” she said in a breathy laugh.

 

 

“Yea… I came by to see if I could talk to you” he said, Barry shifted uncomfortably on his spot but smiled brightly nonetheless.

 

 

“Well I guess I better go then, this sounds more important than whatever I was saying before” he said in a light tone.

 

 

  
“Oh” Felicity sounded disappointed, Oliver noticed and the realization didn’t sit well on him. He stood straighter, looking bigger than Barry.

 

 

“I will see you around Felicity” He said and with a wave he walked out of the coffee shop, not before taking a last peak towards the pair who stood near the coffee bar in silence, watching him leave.

 

 

Felicity felt a wave of annoyance towards Oliver ruining her mojo with Barry who to the contrary of him, seemed to be actually interested on her.

 

 

“Are you going to order something or just stand there like some sort of very fit sculpture?” a smile threatened to break up his serious assemble and he just nodded as they both walked towards the cashier and order him a coffee and a breakfast sandwich, which Felicity highly recommended.

 

 

After they both had ordered their drinks and their food they walked towards the tables in silence, this had been an unexpected change of events, she though turning towards him, he now seemed a lot less grumpy.

 

 

“You know they put people in jail for this sort of thing” Oliver said with a side smile and she gave him the most annoyed look she could master.

 

 

“He is 27 I will have you know, and shouldn’t you be in the fancy part of town where they charge you way too much for food, instead of here?” she said in a tone that went with the look on her face, he took a sip to his coffee and took a deep breath, leaning forward slightly, his eyes fixed on hers all of the sudden while his expression changed to a more serious one.

 

“Wait… why are you here? Other than to ruin the little life outside of work that I have” she asked now.

 

 

“I was hoping to talk to you” he hesitated for a moment “about that assistant position I have been trying to convince you to take”

 

 

“Wow, you are persistent man” she said raising an eyebrow, but her tone was softer and she didn’t sound as annoyed as she normally did which was a good sign. He smirked.

 

 

“Only when it really matters to me”

 

 

She took a sip to her drink; the coffee shop was emptier that early in the morning and the soft sound of the background music and the low sound of stranger’s conversations surrounded them momentarily.

 

 

She had been thinking about it more and more the past few days after what happened with Louise and how hard it had been going back to work with Clementine trying to ‘supervise’ the project that she didn’t even know how it worked. The only though of it made her beyond angry and depressed.

 

 

Maybe just maybe she needed time off from the team. She walked towards the most secluded table at the very end; it was a small comfy booth, with old cracked brown pleather seats and a deep wood table. On top of it there was the typical sugar packets, salt, pepper and a small-unlit candle. They both sat down and looked outside at the people walking enjoying the last few days of summer weather.

 

 

“Why is this so important to you either way?” she asked after a moment with true curiosity “I am sure there is people out there that are _way_ more qualified to do the job than me”

 

 

“You have made a point on you being a prepared woman” he said, his blue eyes fixed on her face.

 

“I have a tendency of talking a lot” she couldn’t believe she was actually considering it.

 

 

“I have noticed…” he looked momentarily amused by her.

 

 

“I don’t understand why you want me so much” Her voice came out louder than she wanted to and some people that were sitting near them looked at them with expressive faces. She winced at her choice of words, feeling a rush of warmness pool on her face.

 

 

“Want me _to do_ this, not want me… I know you don’t want me” she let it trail off, her heart beating so quickly and loudly on her chest she though maybe he could hear it. He was looking at her slightly shocked and uncomfortable, though his face was quickly changing to a more calm collected face, as if her words had not register.

 

 

She hated when he did that, masking his emotions and acting like she had no hold on him, she told herself she didn’t, and that made her more annoyed.

 

 

“I trust you Felicity” he said gravely and simply, she let out a breath she didn’t noticed she was holding, he heart beating fast and her hands sweating on the table in front of them.

 

 

“Oliver what is going on?” she asked finally, there was something he was not telling her.

 

 

He sighed and his eyes scanned the are around them, the pair who had been sitting closed had just left and there was almost no one left in the coffee shop.

 

 

“I have been discovering some irregularities in the company these past few months, I _think_ someone high up, maybe more than one person, have been stealing from Queen Consolidates” his voice was low and cautious, Felicity swallowed feeling her throat suddenly going dry like sand paper.

 

 

“And you think Joyce is behind this?” She sounded incredulous “aren’t you giving her too much credit? The woman barely knows how to delete her browsing history from the Internet… boy I know that” Oliver moved on his chair without patience.

 

 

“I need more than an average assistant” he said and she blinked twice confused” Do you understand?”

 

 

“Oh…” she said after a minute, she liked her lip nervously, melting under his intense gaze “you want me to spy on some or all of the executives?”

 

 

 

“Something like that” he said finally cracking a smile, taking his cup to his lips giving a sip to his coffee. She stared at him on silence, feeling her heart raise and the weight of his words settle in.

 

 

“Why didn’t you say this to me on the first place?”

 

 

“Because it’s selfish” he said his face looking almost apologetic she breathed deeply once again, she had been doing a lot of that this morning.

 

 

“I knew you might be more incline to help me if you knew I really needed it” he said finally, his eyes lowering towards the table.

 

 

“Is that bad?” she asked on a small voice.

 

 

“I believe it is… but I don’t know for sure, a few decisions have been made without my approval, things I _should_ know about are being done, projects I haven’t signed on, secret stuff, money disappearing, layoffs… ” he listed, his brow furrowing with the weight of his words.

 

 

“Is that why you went to New York?” it now was making sense.

 

 

“Yep, and I can’t tell you that I don’t feel as if that part of the company was mine anymore” Felicity chewed the inside of her mouth.

 

 

“It’s not selfish if it affects the hundreds of people who work and believe in your company, including myself” she said finally.

 

 

“It can be dangerous” he said with concern.

 

 

“What do you mean Oliver?”

 

 

“These past few years before taking over my family’s company I was not only running my night club” he paused as she slightly opened her mouth just waiting “I have been investigating the events that led and happened in my kidnapping five years ago”

 

 

  
“What…” she stopped.

 

 

“The people who took us knew exactly where we were going to be, who we where and most importantly who to kill first” Felicity gasped in horror, In all the years being Oliver’s Friend he had never talked much (if any) about the time he had been kidnapped and trying to escape from his captors.

 

 

“Is that why you have Dig as your bodyguard?”

 

 

“Dig is helping me with this as well, he… he is my partner as I hope you will become too”

 

 

There was a moment of silence in between the two; Felicity’s brain was racing through all the information she had just gotten on a Saturday morning. It had been too much and all at once but she understood now why he had been so persistent.

 

 

“Let me think about it” she said truly this time, and he smiled for the first time in what seemed hours.

 

 

“I though you have been thinking about it for months now”

 

 

“I was _never_ considering it before” she assured him.

 

 

“Thank you Felicity” his eyes where on hers and she felt her insides shake with the intensity of his gaze, and she smiled at him sweetly. She was one of the few people he truly trusts and that meant a lot to her stupid heart.

 

 

She knew already what her answer would be, but she wanted to at least make him wait until Sunday night, after all he had just ruined her whole plot of having a impromptu date with Barry at the coffee shop. She guessed she shouldn’t complain about hanging out with Oliver, chatting over coffee about mundane things of life. It seemed so natural to both of them, so comfortable that she had to battle her inner want to just reach and hold his hand.

 

 

 

 


	4. First day

 

Felicity watched as Nick make her cafe late with longing eyes, he was her favorite coffee maker in the coffee shop close to her house. She had barely slept last night in anticipation of her starting her new job as Executive Assistant to Oliver Queen that morning. She had given him the answer about his offer the night of the previous Sunday, just a week before.

 

That night she could hear his smile through the phone and even though she warned him she was not going to be bringing him coffee during the day he just seemed truly happy of having her on board. They had agreed next morning after she paid him a visit to his office that she will start a week after, just so they both could tied some lose ends, her on her IT last project, and he on finding what to do with Joyce.

 

She didn't tell almost anyone about why she was leaving or that she was leaving, just Diane and Angel who were her friends in the department. They had not understood why her change of fields, but were happy for her nonetheless and the fact she was putting an 18 floor distance from Louise.

 

And so it was set, she had woken up extra early that morning as an executive assistant to the CEO of the company she had wanted to work for since college, granted being an assistant wasn't necessarily her dream job, but she assured herself it was something temporary and that a good thing will come out of it. She had gone out shopping with Rachel Saturday, to get a few outfits that fit her new position, she wanted to look professional and good since she was going to be seen near Oliver all day every day. The though of it made he stomach flutter with excitement, which she immediately reprehended herself for.

 

That morning she had worn a fitted dark gray dress that came just above her knees, with a scoop neck and sleeveless. She had pair it with a pair of bright blue heels that matched with her thin patent leather belt that was wrapped around her waist. She had left her hair lose that day, and was wearing small diamond studs and a short crystal statement necklace. Fall was peaking in and a white cardigan was covering her from the cold breeze of the morning.

 

"Here you go Felicity" Nick said in a friendly tone as he handed her the to go cup filled with coffee.

 

Nick was handsome, she though while giving a tentative sip to her drink, checking it wasn't too hot for a full on gulp of it. He seemed a few years younger than her, he had caramel skin and hair, and his eyes were the color of honey, and he was always friendly.

 

"Oh god this is good" she moaned with a grin spreading on her face.

 

"I can see that" a voice coming next to her made her jump on her spot and her breath caught on her throat as she turned around.

 

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to startle you" the smile that was previously on her face reappeared when she saw Barry in front of her, he was wearing dark color denim jeans, a light blue button down that peaked through his dark blue sweater.

 

"Hey Barry, I had not seen you in a..." she said with a breathy laugh she tried to stop.

 

"Week" he finished her sentence with a smile.

 

"Yes, I was not stocking you or anything I just had not seen you around and was wondering if you had found a better coffee shop..." she blushed as her ramble stopped.

 

"No, never" he said in a playful tone "I have been in Central City all week, they had a case they needed a hand on so I offered and they sent me in" he said in a light tone, his hands entering his pockets as he balanced his weights to his heals.

 

"I have never been in Central City before" she mused before giving another sip to her coffee.

 

"Not much different than here, maybe more crime" he said with an excited smile.

 

"You seem quite happy about that" she said with a laugh.

 

"Oh, not about the crime but about the possibilities that might exist for an aspiring CSI assistant who wants to become an agent" she nodded feeling light and happy, forgetting for a moment the day that was ahead of her.

 

"So... I never got to hear where you worked at, after your boyfriend arrived last Saturday" Barry said after a moment of silence.

 

"My boyfriend?" Felicity blinked confused "Oh, Oliver... no, we are not together like that, he is not my boyfriend, I mean he is a boy that is my friend, but I don't like him like that" she was rambling again and felt hot all of the sudden, Barry smiled his cheeks flushing.

 

"Good" he said nodding seeming pleased with the news, Felicity knew she had to get going but she wanted to stay and forget about work and her unresolved feelings for Oliver.

 

"I work in Queen Consolidates, I was in the IT department but today I start as the executive assistant of the CEO"

 

"Oh wow. that's great!" he said raising both brows "so you work directly for Oliver Queen, wait... was the guy here last Saturday Mr. Queen?" Felicity nodded as Barry seemed to digest the info looking excited.

 

"I have heard they have a lot of great forensic research labs in the queen's facilities" his eyes were bright and he sounded like a kid speaking about Disneyland.

 

"I have never been there myself, but it wouldn't surprise me if they have the best of the best for forensic research there" she said, and then Nick called on Barry's name, handing him a cup of coffee and a brown bag filled with a pastry, and that was the distraction she needed to snap out of it. She gasped after checking her watch realizing she was running late on her first day.

 

"I am running late" she muttered in a semi panicked mode.

 

"You better go, don't want to be late to your first day" his tone and expression were genuine, and she though that was what she liked best about him, he seemed sweet and genuine, the fact that he was smart and pretty freaking cute came close second.

 

"Yes, I better... I will see you around Barry"

 

"Felicity" he called her when she was by the door and she turned around with the corner of her lip quirking up.

 

"Maybe we can go to a movie, or dinner, or both"he said quickly, his face red and she felt a warm wave run through her veins and the smile grew bigger by the second.

 

"I will love both" she nodded burying her hand on her deep red purse, finding a business card and in two strides he was in front of her, his fingers brushing hers as he picked it from her hand "It's an older card, but the number is the same"

 

"How about this Friday?" he asked quickly.

"It's a date" she said nodding and with a last glance back she excited the coffee shop, nearly running to her car smiling like a maniac as she turned the engine on and a small nervous laugh broke the silence that suddenly surrounded her.

 

It took security a while to get her set up and gave her her new security clearance, it seemed that being Oliver Queen's assistant gave her access to nearly everywhere, and she found herself grinning when looking at her new batch.

 

"Who would have ever though" she murmured.

 

"Here you go miss Smoak, this should have all the software already installed and you can access your email from wherever" the head of Securty told her handing her a small Windows tablet. With quick pace she left Security and crossed the large hallway that led her to the elevators, pressing several times the elevator button and while she waited she started setting up her email in her new toy.

 

Her heart was on her throat, her palms where sweating as she grew more nervous by the second, spreading through her body, tingling her fingers and under her skin and making her heart skip a beat or two. She checked her mail and cursed out loud when she saw that there was a meeting today at 9 am and it was already 9:10 am.

 

She held her breath when the doors opened, the room was big with dark marble floors, tons of natural lighting and yellow wall panels. She walked quickly towards Oliver's office, right outside of it there was a large desk inside a glass cubicle, there were blinds around the walls, two large monitors and a white leather modern ergonomic chair.

 

That had been Joyce's desk until last Friday, Felicity felt a pang of guilty when she found herself smiling at her last tough, and tossing her purse on the chair she picked her new tablet and walked quickly to the conference room, which thankfully was right next to Oliver's office.

 

She felt extra nervous when she saw that the meeting had started, Clementine was on her feet giving folders to everyone on the table, Oliver was at the end of it, opening the folder his eyes moved though reading and a small frown appeared on his face.

 

Felicity opened the conference room door after taking a few deep breaths to gain some courage, that morning it was the IT department meeting and this was going to be an specially hard one for her to sit through.

 

"I am sorry I am late" she said with a nervous tone as she closed the door behind her, her eyes scanning the table trying to find the closest empty seat near her, all the eyes were on her as she entered.

 

"Felicity, you don't have to be in this meeting, this is for the supervisors and the executives only" it was Louise's voice that broke in the silence in the room, and Felicity froze blushing intensely, her blue eyes going towards Oliver who had been staring at the folder Clementine had given him and seemed to just realize she was there.

 

"As we discussed two weeks ago, the Nuvia project will be directed by Clementine" Louise was smiling, sizing her down with her smug look. Clementine who had just sat down before she came in was grinning, and Felicity felt a pang of anger ran through her.

 

Louise was trying to make her look bad in front of Oliver and the rest, Felicity opened her mouth unsure of how to proceed, but it was Oliver's voice that broke the uncomfortable silence.

 

"Actually Louise, Felicity  _need_ s to be here" Louise's expression had been priceless and Felicity tried her best to not smile brightly as Oliver proceeded.

 

"In the past few months since I took over  _my_  company I have been observing our staff, and came to the conclusion that I needed someone bright to help me get a better insight on how our systems ran, why it works or doesn't work, etc. I found myself wondering why certain decisions, like for example who takes over an important transitional project like Nuvia was not being discussed with me" he paused while rising from his seat, adjusting his tie as Felicity approached his side holding her tablet to her chest, her heart beating fast.

 

"Mr. Queen, we didn't think you will want to hear such small decisions like these, I know you are a very busy man" Louise blurted out.

 

"I'm _very_ busy" Oliver said, his face stern and serious "and it matters to me when my company has invested as much as we have on this project, to know what is going on"

 

There was a silence in the room.

 

"I don't think she will need any introductions since she has been in these Nuvia meetings for months now, but Miss Smoak here is my new executive assistant, she will be my eyes and ears from here on out, Felicity please" Oliver made a gesture, showing her with a side grin the chair next to him and she sat down feeling the intensity of the moment shake her body, her breath catching on her throat.

 

The three man that were there, besides Louise and Clementine welcomed her to her new job, and her eyes went to Louise whose lips were slightly parted in shock and her face was growing paler by the second.

 

"Now that miss Smoak is here, please proceed to explain as of why Nuvia settings aren't working, as I know Felicity will be able to explain this to me if I don't understand" Clementine cleared her throat uncomfortable, her eyes traveling towards Louise.

 

"Well, we think that certain codes weren't working properly, making the machines slower, the new system was breaking down sometimes making the computers to not turn on properly, the firewalls were not successful at protecting them against mallware"

 

"The software seemed to be working perfectly four weeks ago when we tried the beta on twenty computers, the systems seemed to improve in speed by 75%, and kept mallware out 100% better than the non proprietary software we were using prior"

 

"It's the other seven hundred computers we are not having success on" Clementine replied annoyed by Felicity.

 

"That is why the first time we call it a Beta, we tried the new program in 27 computers, and we had a success rate of 95%, all the computers where responding positive to it" Oliver was re reading the paper in front of him, one of his brows raising.

 

"Is this correct?" he asked, blue eyes flying to Clementine.

 

"Well... yes, but"

 

"So you are asking me to approve a new budget of half of a million dollars to re work a program that is already working to a rate of 95% of it's capacity?" he put his hands together in front of him, his brow furrowing.

 

"We have been having issues making the current program work on the rest of the facility, sure it works on 27... but making it work on the other 700" started Louise.

 

"Since when precisely did the program stopped working?" Oliver asked closing the folder in front of him his voice sounding patienceless.

 

"Since we started installing last week"

 

"If Miss Smoak and her team were making it work at such high percentage, and in a week is broken it sounds to me like it's an user error not a half of a million dollar fix" Louise pressed her lips into a fine line and Clementine was now as pale as the white dress she was wearing. Felicity's lips curled up in a small smile, feeling her heart beat so hard on her chest she though it might burst.

 

"Just fix the issue with the budget you were approved for Louise" he said after taking a deep breath, his voice serious. There was an absolute silence following Louise shaky response, her eyes flew to Felicity with a spark on them that made a shiver run through her. If looks could kill she would be dead now, her blue eyes went down to her tablet, her fingers checking through the schedule of that morning.

 

"Mr. Queen, you have a video conference in 10 minutes with New York" Felicity said in a soft voice and he nodded rising from his seat followed by everyone else in the room.

 

"Thank you all for coming, have a great day and I hope to hear better news next week" he said and without another word he exited the room, being followed by a smiling blonde.

 

Their steps echoed in the marble floor as they walked towards Oliver's office, Felicity closed the glass door behind her and her eyes followed his shape as he walked with a quick pace to his desk, his broad back accentuated by his black suit jacket. His hair was getting longer, she noticed feeling as her heart raised just by his image.

 

She was smiling remembering what had just happened in the meeting, feeling some kind of justice had been served when he stuck out for her. Her stomach twirled when she realized she had been starring at him with ogle eyes and had been caught on doing so. Oliver raised an eyebrow.

 

"Do I have something on my face?" he asked, she blinked twice her heart fluttering.

 

"Oh, no..." she walked towards him, her fingers swiping the screen on her tablet finding all the info she needed for the next meeting. He opened Skype noticing the soft scent of peony, peaches and soft musk as she approached him.

 

"Thank you" she said on a low tone her eyes still fixed on the tablet.

 

"For what?" he asked glancing up.

 

"For sticking out for me" she said and her eyes went to him, meeting his gaze that was so intense it made her legs shake.

 

"Felicity, we are a team now... besides nothing that I said there it's a lie, these are things I believe in" she grinned and he turned towards the screen of his computer after a deep breath.

 

"Should I be calling an specific conference room?"

 

"Yes, B3315... there" she pointed and he pressed the green call button and a moment later a female voice came through, Felicity knew almost immediately she disliked the woman on the other end.

 

"Oliver, weirdly on time" she said as a form of greeting, Oliver was serious and moved uncomfortably in his spot.

 

"I have a new assistant to make sure I'm on time" he said simply.

 

"Oh good, maybe she or he will successfully have you join us to all the meetings you seem to gracefully miss" Felicity frowned, feeling warm and angry. Oliver breathed loudly clearly annoyed.

 

"That is the idea, now why don't we talk about what we are supposed to be discussing, and you can tell me what is happening in NY this week"

 

Felicity wrote on her sheet all the meetings and important calls Isabel Rochev was telling Oliver where taking place during the week, marking red all the ones she said were specially important for him to be a part of. She also took that chance to get her IP address, making a self note about keeping an eye on her all all her account movements.

 

"I will have Mandy send your new assistant the schedule" she said finally as the conversation was coming to an end.

 

"Sounds good, though I am sure she got all the info we need already written, have a good day Isabel"

 

"Same" she said and the call was over, Felicity let out a breath she had not realized she was holding.

 

"She is scary" Felicity mumbled.

 

"Yep"

 

"I supposed you want me to keep an eye on her?" Felicity said as she started to walk back to her desk.

 

"Two eyes Felicity" he said and a side grin appeared on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little of a longer chapter, I wanted to try to get my updates to be on a Wednesday since it's the day the show airs, and since we are all going through show withdrawals I figure everyone reading will appreciate a little of these two. :D


	5. Date night

****

 

 

The week had gone by in a blink of an eye and Felicity woke up Friday morning nervous and excited about her upcoming date with Barry that same night. She wanted to make sure she did something special with her hair, and as she had the hot rollers on she was putting some extra bits on her makeup bag to retouch later on.

 

 

She made a mental list and she placed the items inside the pouch, perfume _check_ , eyeliner _check_ , lipstick _check_ , deodorant _check_ , blusher check, eyelash curler check, toothbrush and toothpaste _check_. She took a deep breath and smiled as she applied her daily makeup, the soft music of the Arctic Monkeys playing in the background.

 

A soft knocking on the door made her snap out of her trance and she saw her good friend poke her head into the room, holding out a steaming cup and wearing a bright smile on her face.

 

 

“Busting out the hot rollers, you are aiming to kill tonight blondie” she muted with a mischievous face that made Felicity smile as she nodded in complicity.

 

 

Felicity and Barry had been exchanging texts since Monday afternoon, and he had asked her to meet him in the old classic theater in Downtown by 6:30 pm. They will watch an old Star Wars movie and then go out and grab something to eat. Barry had been especially secretive about where they were going to eat, but had hinted it was a dressy occasion, which made her nervous and excited.

 

 

She liked surprises… sometimes.

 

 

Which meant she had hacked into the restaurants close by her to check for any reservations in Barry’s name and couldn’t find anything, which made her even more curious.

 

 

“What are you going to wear? Since you started working as Oliver’s assistant you always look so polish and nice” Rachel said as she sat on the bed, her eyes looked tired which told Felicity she probably had to stay up late again the night before.

 

 

“Well it has only been a week… but yes, I have seen him a couple of those days at the café briefly, which means I need to look a bit different” Felicity sighed and got up walking towards her bathroom. Rachel gasped when she saw the outfit that hanged in by the door, a short light beige bandage skirt, with sequin and shimmery beads embroidered in a pattern, and a light cream chiffon tank with a scoop neck, in the floor she had a pair of nude pumps.

 

 

“Oh wow Lis, that is so hot!” and that made her blush.

 

 

“You think? I have been working out a lot these past few months so might as well show some leg…” Rachel nodded in approval.

 

 

“You might kill two birds with one stone”

 

 

“Here you come again, I hate to burst your bubble but I am not going to wear _this_ to work, I will take it with me and change to it when I am leaving… I don’t want to be fired just yet” Felicity said shaking her head and Rachel pouted.

 

 

“Well I guess the skirt might be too short for the Queen Consolidates dress code… but it would have been fun to see Oliver’s face”

 

 

“You won't be seeing his face either way” Felicity laughed and she had to admit that her friends words gave her a confidence boost, which she needed for tonight.

 

 

“I can imagine his face you know, I have a very vivid imagination” Felicity laughed again.

 

 

“What do you think, bright lip or smoky eyes?”

 

 

“Smoky eyes… that way he won’t be too shy about kissing you tonight”

 

 

“Smoky eyes it is” and they both chuckled.

 

 

 

Felicity got to work earlier than usual that morning, she had some time to answer some emails about Oliver’s meetings that day, put in some bagels for the morning meeting and check up some of her overnight activity watch she had been running for the past four nights.

 

 

She had been thinking that it was possible whoever was stealing from Oliver (or whatever they were doing) it was possibly being done at night when no one was monitoring the accounts. So far she had not been lucky to find any extra curricular activities from the higher ups, which meant that one they were innocent or two were being extra careful.

 

 

Oliver had not been happy when she told him the morning before she had not being able to find anything as of yet. When he came in that morning he was wearing a dark blue suit with a white shirt and tie, and he greeted her as usual as she gave him a run down of his daily schedule.

 

 

“Have Diggle talked to you about…” he paused and looked around “about us meeting at Verdant Friday nights...?”

 

 

His voice had been low and she felt her heart rush at his proximity.

 

 

“Verdant, you guys are meeting at your night club because?”

 

 

“My sister’s club" he corrected her "we are meeting there a few nights during the weekends to plan or share our findings on the issue we previously establish” he said, his eyes intensely placed on hers.

 

 

“Tonight… I can’t tonight, I have previous plans” she said in a mumble blushing and he crooked his face a confused look flashing across his features.

 

 

“You have a date?” his words sounded curious and his face looked a mixture of shock and puzzled, Felicity handed him a few folders frowning.

 

 

“Please sign those by mid-day today, not midnight” and she turned on her heels and walked out, her heart fluttering on her chest and his eyes fixed on her as he felt a wave of emotion running through his body and pool in his heart.

 

 

He pressed his lips and walked towards his desk leaving the folders on the glass top, his eyes went to her who was now sitting on her desk talking on the phone while typing on her tablet. He liked having Felicity so close by, someone whom he could trust and someone who wasn’t afraid or intimidated by him.

 

 

A small smile had appeared on his face before he noticed it and it was the buzz of his phone on his pocket that brought him back from his daze.

 

 

*****

 

 

She was not sure how many times in the day she had looked at the clock, but knew it was bad when she started checking on the time 10 minutes apart from the last time she checked. The last meeting had lasted an eternity, but she was fond of Walter and his assistant Rogers, which was a plus.

 

 

By the time she got to her desk it was 5 o’clock and she grabbed her duffle bag under the desk and with a swift movement pull it off from under. She felt her hands sweating as she walked across the hall in the last floor towards the ladies room. The elevator bell made a chime and she turned to see Dig get out of the elevator, raising an eyebrow when he saw her.

 

 

“Going to the gym?” he said, his voice thick and deep and she smiled at him shaking her head.

 

 

“Nope, I have a date” and she grinned wider. Diggle nodded, his eyes flashing towards Oliver’s office.

 

 

“Is it with the coffee boy I saw you with the other day?” and Diggle was talking about Thursday morning, when he had given Felicity a ride to get some pastries for a afternoon snack and she had seen Barry there with a few of his coworkers.

 

 

“He is not a boy, but yes… either way I better run, I need to get ready” he smiled his signature side grin.

 

 

“Enjoy your date night” he said finally as she ran down the hall, and she heard as she opened the door to the restroom Oliver’s voice muffled by distance. She had not been this nervous in a long time; she checked her loose waves and was pleased to see they were still voluminous and intact. She walked to the nearest stall, thankful that the regular stalls there were bigger and cleaner than her entire bathroom at home. She put on her outfit, changed to her night shoes, put on two onyx chandelier earrings that emphasized her long neck.

 

 

She took out her makeup bag and made her eye shadow darker and more intense, curled her lashes and put a thin coat of mascara, brushed her brows and reapplied her nude gloss and blush. A spritz of perfume later and she was ready, she took a last look on the mirror and smiled. She looked good and was hopeful Barry will think so as well.

 

 

The office was empty by the time she got out, people normally left earlier on Friday nights which meant it was a perfect opportunity for her to run her scripts to check on everyone's unlawful nightly activities. She will check it later that night or the next morning from her home.

 

 

She picked up her purse and tablet and with a last glance back she left.

 

 

*****

 

 

I was cold that night and she shivered while waiting outside of the theater, she was over 20 minutes early, and was glad she had her white light cardigan from last Monday still on her car.

 

 

She was nervously pacing around the front as several groups of people started to arrive for the Star Wars Marathon. That night they were playing episode IV A New Hope, Saturday Episode V and Sunday at noon Episode VI.  She felt a little out of place with her fancy skirt and heels when everyone else was showing up in hoodies and weird hats and Jedi looking robes.

 

 

When she saw Barry approach in the sidewalk, she couldn't help but to smile; he was looking handsome in a gray suit and a black shirt without a tie. He smiled at her broadly as his eyes studied her, his cheeks flushed and she felt her legs shaken underneath herself.

 

 

“Hi Barry” she waved and as he grew closer she could smell the citrus smell of his cologne.

 

 

“You look beautiful” he said as a greeting, obviously nervous and she smiled.

 

 

“Thanks” she said simply.

 

 

“Have you waited for me for a long time? I really tried to make it on time” he sounded concerned, they both walked to the booth to get the tickets.

 

 

“Just a few minutes, don’t worry… it was an experience, got to see a lot of Jedi, a few Ewoks…” he laughed and offered her the crook of his arm in which she wrapped her arm around, feeling the warmness of his body through his jacket.

 

 

They got some popcorn and in the darkness of the theater she laid her head on his shoulder, enjoying the movie in good company feeling as nervousness disappear and the familiarity of being with him settle in.

 

 

The movie ended with cheers and they both walked out quietly just watching with interest all the people in cosplay outfits that were there. She felt him grabbing her hand when they were outside, and her heartbeat spiked as he glanced at her with a grin on his face.

 

 

“Are you hungry?”

 

 

“Ravenous” she said mimicking his expression, they walked towards the street, she had left her car at work and had taken a taxi there, he had done the same. He hailed a cab and a second later they were sitting together. He gave the driver a note with the address, and the curiosity to where they were going was driving her crazy with anticipation.

 

 

“So… where are we going?” she asked finally, and his smile widen but he didn’t quite answer her, his eyes just went to her and his expression changed slowly to a more serious one, his blue eyes traveling to her lips briefly, his breathing accelerated, he was close and his hand slightly squeezed hers and her gaze softened.

 

 

“We are here, the four seasons hotel” the cabdriver spoke and they both jumped slightly, taken a back momentarily. The Valet walked towards Felicity’s door and opened it, helping her out; Barry was by her side in a flash.

 

 

“Barry…” she started, her eyes wide while looking at the restaurant in front of them, red carpet was on the floor where a man with a suit had help her out, there was a few more couples coming in. The restaurant was located in the first floor on a tall glass modern building in downtown. Pure glass and chrome, she didn’t know when she stopped breathing but she felt Barry’s hand lead her towards the entrance.

 

 

“A reservation for two, under Barry Allen” he said, she finally snapped out of it, her eyes flashing toward the hostess, who was a very beautiful red headed woman, with bright blue eyes and a tight black dress and red lips.

 

 

“Just in time Mr. Allen, follow me please” she said with a smile, with a catwalk attitude she walked in front of them and they followed. The place was huge, with tall ceilings and crystal chandeliers that hanged down giving a sparkling yellow light. The tables had white tablecloths on, and crystal cups and fancy shapes made of napkins.

 

 

“This is your table, your server will be with you momentarily” she said robotically as Felicity stood studying the place in awed. She never though Barry will take her to such an expensive restaurant, she immediately felt a pang of guilt and he held the chair for her to sit and she took it hesitant.

 

 

 He sat in front of her and the waiter came to offer them their choice of sparkling or still water, the place was full and there weren’t many tables open at the very center of the room where they sat. There was a live band playing soft ambient music, and Felicity caught herself thinking, if this was the sort of place Oliver brought his dates to.

 

 _No_ she scolded herself feeling the gilt spread through her veins, feeling like an idiot for thinking on Oliver while being with Barry. She grabbed the menu and opened it gasping when she saw that there was no prices listed.

 

 

“Barry… I think this dinner might cost what we earn in a day of work” she said blushing, a concerned look flashing through her face. He smiled blushing as well, nodding.

 

 

“Yes I know, and I don’t know half of what those dishes mean” he closed the menu and raised both brows to his hairline.

 

 

“Do you want to sneak out? I can pretend to be sick” she offered, putting the napkin that was now draped across her legs on the table.

 

 

“No, don’t worry Felicity” he said with a smile spreading through his face “I… one of my best friends from my childhood is the new chef in the restaurant, and he pretty much begged me to come here” Felicity then smiled feeling some relief wash over her.

 

 

“Well that does make a difference” she said with a nervous laugh, opening the menu once again “it’s all in French” she commented.

 

 

“Fancy people speak different languages I supposed” he said shrugging, Felicity remembered Oliver speaking Russian to someone over the phone a few months ago and nodded.

 

 

“Next time we can go and eat a burger in the Big Belly Burger” he offered and her eyes flew towards him blushing, she liked he was talking about a next time already.

 

 

“I would like mine with a malt shake”

 

 

“And fries” he nodded.

 

 

“Barry Allen!” a voice took them out of their conversation, a tall man with dark skin and a bright white smile was approaching them. He was wearing a chef white jacket and black pants with light thin stripes. He looked clean and polished, with a baldhead and a handsome face.

 

 

 

“Marcus Reynolds” Barry said getting up of his seat, a friendly smile on his face. They both shared a quick hug and then turned towards Felicity, who was getting up smiling as well.

 

 

“Barry said you were a catch, he wasn’t lying” Marcus said and Barry’s hand went to his forehead, a shy smile on his face as a rush of red took over his cheeks.

 

 

“Did he now?” Felicity said with a nervous laugh, and they both shook hands.

 

 

“He did” the chef said now serious “now how about you guys let me send you my specialty, it’s my treat…”

 

 

“Marc… you don’t have to” Barry started as Marcus was backing up shaking his head, not taking a no for an answer.

 

 

“Please, not every day my best friend comes to taste my food with a lovely lady… now I leave you two, don’t want to interrupt _much_ ” and with a wink he turned around back to the kitchen. Felicity’s eyes went to Barry who was still flushed and was now sitting back shaking his head.

 

 

“Next time Big Belly Burger for sure”

 

 

“He seemed nice” she said, her heart still racing on her chest from Marcus’s comment.

 

 

“He enjoys embarrassing me like a big brother would… never again will I tell him anything” Barry said, and he drank a large gulp of his water. His words didn’t escape her though; she noted he _had_ told his friend about her.

 

 

The waiter came by slowly after with a red wine, explaining the chef had send it and that it will work with the food best. He left the bottle at the table and walked away, one drink after Felicity felt warm and happier than she had in a long time. They talked about the movie, coffee and their lives outside of work.

 

 

The appetizer had been the best thing she had ever eaten in her life, Barry stretched his hand across the table and his fingers touched the tip of hers, their eyes met and she could feel the electricity traveling through her.

 

 

 

Then she saw him and her world went momentarily upside down. Barry was a blur in front of her and the music in the background was loud on her ears, just like the slow palpitations of her heart. He was wearing the same suit he had earlier that day, dark blue with a white shirt, he was smiling to the gorgeous woman who was walking next to him, she was wearing a red dress and had long dark hair and pale skin with bright blue eyes.

 

 

He had that smile on that he used for the rest of the world to see, to try to appear to be the same Oliver Queen that he had been before he was kidnapped. She knew better than that, she knew him better.

 

 

She felt a rush of jealousy overwhelmed her and her breathing was quicker as she tried to calm herself, her eyes refusing to abandon the couple that were walking a few feet from them following the same hostess that had sat Felicity and Barry moments ago.

 

 

And then his eyes met hers and the grin that had been on his face disappeared in a second, his blue eyes were fixed on her and his steps slowed down to a complete stop and for a moment time had halted.

 

 

His stomach moved and he felt anger running through his veins when he saw the familiar head of hair in front of Felicity, lips pressed down to a fine line and time was going again. The woman that was with him seemed to realize he had stayed behind and her eyes followed his gaze, stopping in Felicity. The intensity of her eyes made Felicity's blood icy and she turned her gaze down towards her wine that was now on her shaky hand.

 

“Everything all right?” both Barry and Helena asked to each of them in a separate area of the room. Oliver nodded and with the mask on once more he walked with her towards the table where the hostess waited.

 

“Yes, everything is awesome” she said in a low voice.

 

Felicity gave a large gulp to her wine and Barry served her more happily ignorant about the fact that Oliver Queen was a few tables away and had just probably ruined the night for her. His hand finally grabbed hers and she let him, the feeling of his touch warming the icy temperature of her blood. The waiter came by with their entry, it was duck with orange sauce and snow peas, and it looked amazing. But she was hardly hungry anymore.

 

She tentatively looked towards Oliver’s table and he was now talking to their waiter, she put on a smile and told herself he was not going to ruin her date night and cursed her luck to wind up in the same fancy restaurant that Oliver decided to take his date to.

 

She normally didn’t like duck, but this one was especially tasty and Barry was now talking about doing a Star Wars marathon together.

 

“Maybe we can skip the costumes and crowd next time, watch it at my place?” his smile grew and Felicity fakes a pout.

 

“You know I am just as much of a nerd as those people” she said and he laughed.

 

“Like _all_ of them?”

 

“Well… like some of them, awkward in social occasions and all” she said nodding.

 

“You don’t seem awkward to me” his eyes were looking at her in an endearing way and her stomach twirled and she smiled truthfully.

 

“I even use to dress up once upon of time” she said with a grin spreading on her face.

 

“Like what character?” he raised an eyebrow.

 

“A few different ones, I was Princess Leia once in a college Halloween party” he swallowed and his eyes sparkled.

 

“What I would give to see that” he joked and she took another sip of her wine.

 

“Maybe you will… someday” and he blushed.

 

Oliver’s eyes traveled from his companion who was now checking at the menu towards Felicity’s table, his eyes traveled down her face to her arm and hand and saw that Barry was holding it. She was laughing in a flirtatious way and Oliver looked uncomfortably around the room trying to distract his thoughts and that sudden wave of jealousy that he was not expecting, but his light eyes went back to that place once again.

 

She had left in such a rush that afternoon after work, before saying goodbye and she even had told him she had plans. He was happy, he told himself; she was going out with a guy that seemed decent. He was happy, but the frown on his face said otherwise, his jaw tight and his pose straight.

 

“I swear if you held that fork any harder it will snap like a twig” the soft voice of his companion broke the silence that surrounded them and he turned towards her suddenly aware. He smiled politely and left his silverware aside. They had ordered some drinks and were waiting for the waiter to come and take their orders, but Oliver had lost his appetite.

 

Dessert was there and Felicity’s mouth salivated by the chocolate soufflé in front of both of them. There was no waiting on either of their parts and she moaned as the rich dark chocolate flavor melted through her mouth. Barry smiled.

 

 

“Amazing right?” she nodded.

 

 

“Best thing I have ever tried, hands down”

 

 

“He used to make this for me when he was learning… years ago, who knew it will come this useful” Barry’s eyes were bright and fixed on her. They were as intense as she had seen them and she got lost on them for a minute or two.

 

 

When they finished they talked briefly over wine, the bottle coming to an end and they were both feeling buzzed, happy and full. Felicity had forgotten for a moment the man that she loved that was sitting just a few tables away, his eyes constantly flying towards them.

 

 

But she didn’t know this and when her eyes finally traveled the room and were on him he was talking to Helena, and she was smiling broadly while he took a sip on his drink.

 

 

“So, what did you guys think?” it was Marcus voice.

 

 

“It was your best one yet” Barry said with an approving tone and Felicity nodded.

 

 

“I was telling Barry this is the best thing I have ever eaten” she said pointing at the empty soufflé dish in front of her.

 

 

“Glad to hear” Marcus said.

 

 

“Thank you Marc” Barry said and he got up and they both shook hands.

 

 

“It was a pleasure to meet you Felicity, I hope I get to see you around” Marcus said and she nodded.

 

 

“I hope so too… though maybe not here, because you know this meal will cost me my whole day paycheck, but maybe somewhere else… oh boy, sorry for the ramble” she said blushing and Marcus laughed entertained.

 

 

“You guys enjoy the rest of your evening” and with a pat on Barry’s shoulder Marcus left them alone again, and Felicity’s heart started to beat so fast on her chest when she realized it was time to go.

 

 

Barry who was already up saw her stand and pick up her phone and clutch, she took a tentative glance towards Oliver who was now looking at her. His eyes were deep and seemed slightly troubled but he gave her a flash grin that she returned before walking towards Barry who offered her his arm as they both walked out of the restaurant without realizing her phone had dropped and fallen onto the floor.

 

They walked outside and a wall of cold air hit them as they exited the restaurant, she shivered and Barry was telling the valet guy to call them a cab. The night was cold and beautiful; a full moon was bright above the skyline and she felt a heavy coat land on her shoulders as she shivered, and the scent of citrus and after-shave surrounded her and it smelled like Barry.

 

 

She turned to him with a thankful smile and she was now aware of his wide back and broad chest, she shook slightly when she realized he was so close to her she could feel the heat irradiating from his body, his arm was wrapped around her waist and his profile was set to hers.

 

 

“Thank you” she murmured holding a breath and his eyes were now traveling towards her lips and then she didn’t feel cold anymore. It had been a soft chocolate flavored kiss, warm and moist over her lips, and then it was over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	6. The foundry

****

 

Oliver stared at the couple as they walked out of the restaurant, his eyes widen at the full sigh of her and the way her outfit hugged her curves. The skirt was short and showed off just the part of her thighs he never had seen before and the elegance of her long neck and collarbone made his heart jump inside of his chest. His mouth was dry all of the sudden and he though she looked absolutely breathtaking.

 

He swallowed heavily the bitter taste of whiskey on his mouth as she wrapped her arm around Barry's, and they walked away lost in conversation. He saw the phone falling to the ground, bouncing on the red carpet bellow. Oliver was on his feet before he could master a full though and Helena’s soft feminine voice was a mumble in the background.

 

“Is everything alright?” his eyes flew towards her and he managed to change the grimace that was previously painted on his face to a quick smirk that meant to reassure her that in fact, everything was all right.

 

“Yes, my friend… was on a date a few tables from us and she just dropped her phone, I am just going to make sure she gets it before she leaves” Helena raised her groomed eyebrow and her hand inched toward his.

 

“We can ask the waiter to bring it to her” she said with a smirk and her eyes sparkled with jealousy, but he was already walking away to notice this.

 

“No need” he said quickly. He was there in just a few strides, picking up the small cellphone from the floor that drowned on his large hand. A wall of cold and humid air met him by the door, and he stopped on his tracks just as Barry leaned to kiss Felicity. Time had stopped momentarily as he felt a wave of heat race through his veins flushing his skin.

 

“Mr. Queen, is everything alright?” a voice to his left sounded concerned and cordial, Oliver was tense all over and his face was tight with repressed emotion.

 

“Mhmmm” he mumbled behind clenched teeth, his eyes flying to the restaurant’s manager who seemed extra concerned about having upset such an important costumer.

 

“Was there something wrong with the service?” Oliver took a deep breath and the same forced grin appeared on his face, his heart was racing inside his ribcage.

 

“Nope” he handed the phone to the manager who took it clearly confused.

 

“This belongs to my friend, the blonde that is about to board a cab, she dropped it on the way out… if you will be so kind as to give it back to her so I can get back to my date?” the manager nodded with a smile.

 

“Of course Mr. Queen” and Oliver’s eyes flew towards Barry and Felicity who were breaking apart from their embrace, and his stomach clenched as he turned on his heels and headed up inside.

 

 

****  
  
  


Felicity was up the next morning to the sound of her phone vibrating against the wood of her nightstand. The blue screen on her phone was the only light on her dark room. She grumpily reached towards her glasses and put them on crookedly on her face before noticing that the person calling was Diggle.

 

 

“This better be urgent John” her voice was rough like the sound of someone who had just woken up, and her brain was slow and cloudy as if she had cotton balls stuffed in it. She heard him smile through the phone and felt annoyed when she checked that it was only 8 am.

 

“Duty calls Felicity” he said in a light tone.

 

“What do you mean, I don’t have any duty on Saturday morning other than sleeping in”

 

“Are you alone?” Felicity felt her heart hustle on her chest.

 

“Wait… what?” she was too sleeply still to make sense to his words.

 

“Oliver mentioned you might have company this morning, so… are you alone?” it now made sense, she remembered Barry the night before and blushed intensely at the implication.

 

“I am not the kind of girl who sleeps around on first dates John” she said irritated, Diggle could imagine her face and smiled at the picture in his head.

 

“Right, you know you can talk to me about what happened last night if you want” he mentioned casually.

 

“With Barry?”

 

“With Oliver” he said and she felt a knot on her stomach, remembering him and his hot date the night before.  
  


“I rather go back to sleep” she mumbled.

 

“Look, Oliver told me that he spoke with you about our meetings in Verdant during Friday nights… yesterday we didn’t get around showing you what we have been doing, either way it will make more sense if you just come” Felicity sat down slowly on her bed realizing this was hapenign and she was not going to be able to go back to sleep. Feeling confused, sleepy and hungry all at the same time. She had a faint headache and she grunted as one of her hands went to her temple massaging it sluggishly.

 

“I can’t drive right now…” she muffled.

 

“Which is why I am calling you, will be there to pick you up in 15”

 

“Wait, what… Dig” she said in a quick voice but he had hanged up. She complained while getting up feeling like an old lady, aching all over her body and cursing Diggle, Oliver and the fact that she had stayed up late walking around the park with Barry the night before. They had kissed several times, long soft kisses that became heated until they were in front of her apartment. She felt a smile spread on her face as the water of her morning shower woke her up.

 

When she came out of her bedroom she was wearing a comfy pair of light wash skinny jeans and a worn in black tshirt. She had put in some yellow dangly earrings and had light makeup on. Her hair was lose on her back already half dried.

 

The hallway that let her to the living room smelled like coffee and she heard the sounds of two familiar voices conversing casually. Diggle and Rachel sat on the living room, each holding a cup of coffee chatting about the weather and how the days were getting shorter.

 

Diggle was sitting comfortable on his spot, his coffee eyes flying towards her nodding to greet her and she pouted, fixing her thick frame glassed on her nose.

 

“Good morning sleepy head” Rachel said with a bright smile, she was a morning person and Felicity wasn’t. A grumpy noise escaped her lips as she walked towards the kitchen looking for coffee.

 

She was grateful that Rachel always made enough coffee and food that could feed an entire soccer team; she grabbed a cup and put in a few teaspoons of sugar and filled it with coffee and cream.

 

She took a sip and moaned, she loved coffee and that morning she really needed it. She though of Barry and the fact that she was probably not going to see him that morning in the coffee shop and frowned as she walked towards the living room.

 

“I imagine you and I are not the only ones going to work this morning” she said crankily with the cup on her lips and Diggle was smiling at her amused, he leaned forward putting his empty cup on the coaster that was on the coffee table on front of hum and raised from his seat slowly.

 

“You guys are leaving so soon?” Rachel asked and she seemed bummed out, Felicity though she secretly liked Diggle.

 

“Like Felicity said… we have to go to work” Diggle said, his voice was deep and made Rachel blush and that didn’t go unnoticed by neither of them, Felicity reached the coat rack grabbing her black leather jacket.

 

“Bye Rache” Felicity called from the door, putting her purse on her shoulder.

 

“Bye” she said getting up with a half wave.

 

“Thank you for the coffee again… it was good” Diggle smiled.

 

“Anytime” she said and they were off. Both of them took the stairs and Felicity was taken aback by seeing Diggle’s silver car instead of the black town car he normally drove.

 

“Well this is different, I was expecting the black town car” she said getting in, she had a to go cup and immediately put it on the cup holder after Diggle shot her a warning glance.

 

“Today is not a regular work day per say” he said simply.

 

“Really, are we the only ones going to work at 9 am on a Saturday… I am sure Oliver is still who knows where with the bimbo he was with last night” she said, and she sounded bitter. Diggle’s mouth turned up on a slight grin.

 

“I think Oliver didn’t sleep all night… though not for the same reason you might think, either way he should still be there” he said finally and Felicity turned to study his face, there was something there he was not telling her and she was curious.

 

“What was he doing then?” she asked.

 

“You will see”

 

Felicity licked her lips subconsciously, like she did when she was nervous. She had seen Oliver the night before in the Four Seasons and it had been different, she had felt it on the way he looked at her. He had been shocked, confused and something else entirely she couldn’t place her finger on.

 

As they drove through the Glades she was lost in her own thoughts, her eyes scanning the empty streets, the old buildings and homeless people that slept on the sidewalks. The morning was cold and dark, gray rain clouds covered the sky and there was a cold wind moving leaves that had already started falling from the scattered trees around the city.

 

They were at Verdant at last, Diggle parked in one of the closest spots to the club that was now empty from a busy night. She got out eyeing the place she had been in very few times in the past years. She put on her jacket and wrapped her neck in a light pink scarf that had been stuffed on her bag. Her coffee was still warm thanks to her thermal cup.

 

Their steps echoed in the concrete floor of the club, it was empty and the floors were still sticky from spilled drinks, though the bar was illuminated and clean. She followed Diggle to the back through a great hallway towards a large door that had a keypad in the front.

 

“Pay attention to the key” he said in a murmur as his fingers pressed 2756 and the red light changed to a green one, and the door made an unlock sound. It was a large basement she though, the door led them to a narrow metal staircase, in the bottom she could see that it had lighting, thick cement columns and floor, she saw as she went down the stairs following Diggle 3 computer monitors in the center, and to the side there was Oliver, shirtless going up on a Salmon Latter.

 

Grunting the skin on his chest wrapped around tight muscle, his face was red and sweaty and he turned towards them and let the grip on the bar go, landing gracefully on his heels. He picked a towel from the side and wiped his face raising both brown at the intense gaze from Felicity.

 

She swallowed at the sigh of him, blushing immediately when she realized she had been staring, forcing her eyes to scan the place even though she wanted to scan his body.

 

“You made it” his voice seemed more serious than normal, she could see he was in one of his tense moods.

 

“Barely” she said, remembering all of the sudden how tired she was.

 

“This is the foundry” he said signaling the surroundings, there were metal boxes around, military trucks, to the end there were lockers and a small table with three chairs. To the side she saw a large area with rubber mats for sparing and other training gear. She was growing more and more confused as she examined the place.

 

“And this is for…?”

 

“Is a base of some sort, where Diggle and I have been preparing ourselves for whatever might happen next” Oliver said.

 

“What will happen next?” Felicity asked, feeling her throat dry and her heart raise, her eyes were on his a flash of memories from the night before going through her head.

 

“You remember the one thing you are helping me to find, the discrepancies in my company, the kidnaping, we think it was planned as I mentioned to you a few weeks ago” he started, pointing at the computer, the three of them walked towards it, Felicity dropped her purse on the table her eyes going through the pictures that were now on the screens of the computers. They were all convicts from South America.

 

“This guys were hired by someone here in America, someone with a lot of money that knew where we were going to be” Felicity nodded, remembering their past conversation.

 

“We don’t know who they were and if they will try to do something to Oliver or his family again” said Diggle, his dark eyes on Felicity.

 

“And that is why this place seems to be some sort of gym?” Felicity asked though she now knew the answer to that question, or so she though.

 

“And because whenever we find who did this to us, we want justice Felicity” the words hanged in the air, Felicity felt light headed.

 

“Us? What do you mean…?”

 

“The first person they killed was our boat’s captain, who also happened to be my dad’s bodyguard and friend. Andy Diggle” Oliver finished and Felicity was pale as a sheet of paper.

 

“Your… bother?” her eyes went to Diggle.

 

“My older brother” Diggle said in a grave tone before he pressed his lips, frowning while lowering his eyes towards the ground.

 

“I didn’t know Diggle, I am so sorry” she mumbled.

 

“When we were kidnapped they sent videos to my family, asking for ransom… 2 million dollars first, and they insured no one will die. My mother paid them in the next hours, but in return they got a tape of Andy being executed” she gasped.

 

“They had threatened to shot me if my dad didn’t give them some information they needed, some kind of password that at the time it made no sense to me, but now it has to be something linked to Queen Consolidates” Oliver continued, Felicity was not sure she wanted to keep listening.

 

“They tortured me, Sarah and my dad but he never gave it up so they shot him” Her eyes now traveled through his chest once again, now that the butterflies and her own hormones weren’t overwhelming her she could see all the scars that covered his skin. White and pink, large and small and her heart became a small raisin inside of her chest.

 

“Oh my god Oliver” she panted feeling speechless by emotion and anger.

 

“This were times when nothing good happened, but when I escaped… I was someone else entirely, for many years I was not Oliver Queen I went to Japan and learned martial arts, I was in hiding from these people and from my own, I didn’t want to come back” he kept going and he took a deep breath and he opened one of the pictures, the name of the file read Alfonso Padron.

 

He had a broad face and wide nose and in his right cheek there was a large scar that went from his eye to the corner of his mouth, he looked scary Felicity though and her eyes flew towards Oliver.

 

“I wanted to disappear because I was ashamed that I was alive and everyone else had died. I had a life and he found me, I wasn’t the same scared kid he tortured and while we were fighting in Japan, he mentioned that my fathers company will be soon in the hands of the one that paid them to kidnap us”

 

 

“That prompted me to come back to Startlight City, to get my company back and to find the person responsible for this” Oliver finished and she let out a breath she had not realized she was holding before.

 

“We will find them and we will destroy whatever they are trying to do” Diggle said, his voice was grave.

 

“What about the cops?” Felicity asked.

 

“What about them”

 

“Are we going to give them the information that we gather?” she asked after a moment, Oliver and Diggle exchanged a look.

 

“We will… eventually” Oliver said slowly and Felicity presses her lips and after a second she nodded.

 

“Okay…”

 

“I really need us to find them Felicity” he said and his voice was soft and almost pleading, his hand touched her shoulder slightly, his eyes were intense on hers.

 

“We will” she said and there was conviction behind her words.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think will happen next? J Thank you for reading!


	7. The plus one

 

  
Days went by rapidly, Felicity had kept herself busy with work as Oliver’s assistant, as well as her second job helping him and John uncover who was behind what had happened years before in Colombia.

  
At this point she was now use to the long late nights in the Foundry, even though she only got around five hours of sleep during the week she had quickly began to love spending time with the guys there, watching them train and their serious and not so serious conversations over fast food. The soft noise of the keyboard clicking under her fingertips and the sound of the salmon ladder as Oliver climbed it when he was feeling specially stressed.

  
She had in fact uncovered that there was a link with the kidnappers in Colombia to someone in America. She hadn’t been so lucky as to be able to see the bank records since they had been removed, so there was no way she could easily track who that person was. She however was not one to give up so easily.

  
Then she found it, the small transfers cash in dollars made from different accounts in the United States, but all where depositing the same amount at the exact same hour on Friday’s at noon. Coincidence? She didn’t think so, and neither did Oliver and Diggle.

  
She had not been able to track down where the accounts were from, but she had left some of her scripts running so whenever someone logged in into one of the online accounts she will get an IP number, which will get her a location, and then BINGO.

  
“Felicity, we need to plan a party... a hundred people and we need to invite some of the members of the board” Oliver’s voice made her jump on her spot; she raised her eyes and met his. He was laying his body against the doorframe of her office; his face was serious and tired.

  
“You were up all night again weren’t you?” she said in an accusing tone, her brows pursing in the middle.

  
He scanned the place and turned to her breathing heavily, without patience.

  
“No…” he started.

  
“What is that you are doing?”

 

“Let’s talk about that tonight ok? Now I need you to plan this party for me”

  
“A party? Why…?” she commented.

  
“My mom is insisting we celebrate the anniversary of my coming back to Starlight City which is in two weeks, in conjunction with her birthday”

  
“Oh... a true Queen’s party then?” and Oliver nodded, his fingers rubbing his temple.

  
“Exactly”

  
“Ok then, I will get right on it” she said with a chipper tone and started writing on her table a to do list, but when she raised her eyes back up he was still there looking at her with a dash of curiosity in his eyes.

  
“You can bring a plus one” he said in a low voice.

  
“Oh, I am invited?” Oliver smiled for the first time.

  
“Of course”

  
“You totally want me to go as your assistant, am I getting paid overtime rate?” she muffled raising an eyebrow.

  
“I don’t want you to come as my assistant Felicity, but as my good friend” Oliver said, his eyes were soft “who also happens to be my partner in my nightly endeavors”

 

“That sounds so different in my head” she said and quickly pursed her lips together while a slight blush traveled through her cheeks “and I knew there was something hidden in between the lines there”

  
“It will be fun, free drinks, good music… a little spying, normal party stuff” he was trying to be funny, which was a complete opposite to his previous mood and she appreciate the change and smiled.

  
“Fine, I will go and bring my plus one” Oliver stood there, his piercing blue eyes fixed on her and with a last tap on the glass wall of her cubicle his voice broke the silence.

  
“Good” and he was gone.

  
There was something different in the way his eyes lingered on her, she though while feeling her heart beat quickly in her chest. As she looked for nice restaurants that catered online she though of his words “You can bring a plus one” and Barry came to mind.

 

The one thing she hated about having two jobs was not having much time to date. She was not really complaining about spending more time with Oliver, who happened to like to train shirtless, but she also enjoyed spending time with Barry. In fact the cheerfulness of him was a welcomed distraction from Oliver and her feelings for him. But as it happened, both of their jobs had gotten all of the sudden much busier within the past few weeks. They texted and talked on the phone often, she had been to his place a few weeks back, they had “watched” The empire Strikes Back, in reality she didn’t remember when the movie had started and when it had ended.

  
That afternoon Olive, John and her had decided to go for a late lunch bite at the Big Belly Burger, she was sipping onto her sweet iced tea when she saw Barry walking with a few of his coworkers pass the window. He was wearing a light jacket and his hands where in both of his pockets.

 

She felt a jolt of excitement and forgot for a moment the line of conversation the three of them were having a moment before. She knocked on the glass next to her and Barry’s eyes met hers and a smile spread on both of their faces. She stood up as he pointed the door of the restaurant, and her heart was racing when she met him there.

  
“Hey you” he said and their lips met briefly. She had kissed him a lot, but it still felt new to her especially in a public place. She could feel Diggle and Oliver’s eyes on them.

 

“Are you on your way back from lunch?” she asked casually and he nodded, his eyes briefly going outside where both of his friends were waiting for him.

  
“I kind of wish I had gone to lunch by myself so I could hang out with you a little longer” he said and she smiled.

  
“It’s ok, I have some boring work conversation waiting for me when I return to eat”

  
“Wow, you guys should take a break from work” he said and she nodded.

  
“That is the bad part about your only friends being your boss... and your bosses bodyguard” she said in a joking tone and a sudden silence surrounded them, Barry’s eyes traveled towards the table and met Oliver’s.

  
“Well hey, how about we get together and watch a movie… or dinner, or both?” he said when his eyes were back on her.

  
“That will be nice”

  
“I should get going though, call you later?” he asked and she nodded, feeling her heart rush when his hand touched her face briefly.

  
She walked back with a smile on her face, Oliver was looking down to the table as he stuffed a French fry in his mouth, and Diggle was looking smug with a smirk on his face.

  
“Oliver wasn’t playing when he said you were dating a kid, how old is he… 20?” and she saw Oliver smiling while his blue eyes rose to meet her.

  
“He is 27 and I will have you both know he doesn’t look like a kid at all when it comes to…”

  
“I don’t need to know whatever it is that you are going to say” Oliver interrupted her, his brows shooting up clearly uncomfortable and soft laugh escaped her lips.

  
“Just saying…”

 

“Don’t” and she sat down, enjoying that moment and thinking to herself if there was a possibility that perhaps Oliver Queen was jealous.

  
****

  
Days had passed and the party was approaching at fast speed, Felicity hanged up the phone after talking with the band for what seemed ages, making sure they will show up that Saturday at seven pm on the dot. It was seven when she checked her wristwatch and cursed lightly under her breath, she was running late.

  
Barry had called her the night after they saw each other at the Big Belly Burger, they had set up a date night a week from that day, which she had to cancel due to an emergency that had happened in the Foundry.

 

Oliver and Diggle had started hunting around people from a list Oliver had gathered from his dad’s journal after he had been killed, these were people that were robbing Starling City, stealing for the poor, the working class. She found it heroic but extremely dangerous.

  
The night that was supposed to be their date Oliver had gotten hurt, the guy he was ‘visiting’ had shot him in the shoulder and Felicity had to rush to the foundry to help Diggle with a bleeding Oliver. The date was the last thing on her mind that night.

  
Barry seemed to understand her quick lame excuse that night, and they had reschedule for the next Friday, tonight. Felicity finished typing on her tablet the last touch to her schedule and pressed send so Oliver will have them. She quickly grabbed her purse and phone and walked out of the office like a hurricane.

  
She didn’t have time to go home and change to a more flirty attire, but she freshen up her makeup in the car, and was glad she wore her hair down that day to work. Barry was waiting for her at the entrance of the theater, showing her the tickets as she rushed towards him.

 

“I hope your boss is feeling better from his motorcycle accident” he said, and she should have noticed that it was weird that that was the first thing he had mentioned, but her mind was too full to notice.

  
“He is much better, hard for him to move his arm still but he has stopped complaining about the pain…. thanks for asking” she said quickly, taking the ticket from his hand with a smile.

  
“You worry about him” he mentioned his eyes fixed on her, she looked up at him realizing something was a bit off; she nodded with a slight smile.

  
“He is my friend and he takes chances that many people wouldn’t… he is trying to help the people of this city”

  
“Really, are we talking about the same Oliver Queen?” his voice was ambiguous and Felicity suddenly wanted to stop talking and thinking about Oliver and start to enjoy their date.

  
“He is not what he appears to be, he has been through a lot” she didn’t know why she was feeling like defending him.

  
There was a moment of silence in between both of them.

  
“I have read good reviews about this movie, I hope it doesn’t suck” and just like that she felt the tension leave.

  
They watched the movie, after they stopped by a small bar on their way to Felicity’s house, it was nice to let herself go and forget about work for a few hours and enjoy the company of Barry.

  
The movie had been good, but there was something off that night with Barry Felicity though, maybe he was upset with her for cancelling their date last minute the week before. As they walked back to their cars she felt anxious, the silence was too much and something entirely new in between them.

 

“Do you like him?” his words took her by surprise.

 

“Who?” she asked stupidly, her brain catching up with his words later than it should have.

  
“Oliver”

  
“No...no Barry, Oliver and I… we are just friends”

  
“I am not saying something is actually happening in between the two of you, I am saying you seem to have something there for him… and frankly he gives me the stink eye big time” she was in shock at his words shaking her head as he spoke, knowing that denying it will be a flat out lie, but needing to assure him that he didn’t need to worry.

  
“Barry, I assure you that there is nothing there” he smiled; they were in front of her car now.

  
“I know a thing or two about being in love with a friend, even the feeling of being in love with someone who doesn’t see you the same way, I guess what I am trying to say is that I will be ready for you when you are 100% ready for me” his voice was light and not upset. Felicity though she ought to be more hurt that he was calling it quits because he realized she had her heart somewhere else. She couldn’t get upset at him for that.

  
She nodded and he kissed her cheek before walking away.

  
“So I guess that means no plus one for me…” Felicity muttered, the cold wind of that fall night hitting against her face, feeling heavy and sad.

 

*****

  
The next morning Felicity woke up feeling like she had been ran over by a train, she had stayed up late talking and drinking wine with Rachel, cursing her feelings for Oliver and debating if she should call Barry and ask him to forget that horrible date and start over.

  
She had a light headache and when she came out of her bedroom Rachel had already made a chicken noodle soup, her famous hangover cure. The party was that night so she spent most of her day calling people and making sure everything was on check.

  
Around five thirty she started getting ready for the party, it was a formal occasion, she wore her short beige dress with gold stones that schemed over her curves and had an open back. She had put her hair up in a bun and had smokey eyes and a lip-gloss.

  
Lacking a plus one Diggle had offered to pick her up on his way there; he was also invited as a friend, but was going with the spying task as well. He was looking handsome that night, in a black suit with a black shirt and tie, and his car smelled like cologne.

  
“Looking beautiful” he said as a greeting while she got in.

  
“Thank you for noticing, you don't look half bad yourself” she said with a smile. She typed on her phone to the restaurant who was running late.

  
“So what happened with your boy?” he asked casually, Felicity took a deep breath before answering.

  
“He figured out that I have feelings for Oliver… so he broke up with me”

  
“Ouch… I didn’t know you guys were serious”

  
“Well we weren’t but I don’t know how else to say he dumped me” she sounded bitter and was grateful when she heard the light music in the background, Diggle was giving her space and she was grateful for it.

  
“If you need to talk… you always know you can tell me” his voice was soft and she turned to him with a smile.

  
“I just want this night to be over quickly”

  
“You and me both”

  
The night had come in quickly and cold, and the mansion was looking bright and cheerful, with light music playing, a soft aroma from flower bouquets. As the guest arrived waiters started appearing with food and drinks. Felicity and Diggle hanged out by the bar, sipping on expensive wine waiting for Oliver to arrive.

  
He made his usual late entrance, wearing a dark gray suit and black shirt and gray tie, he was smiling as he walked through the door with Helena by his arm looking beautiful in dark wine color dress. He started walking around the party, talking to his guests, staying longer with Moira and Thea who seemed delighted to meet Helena.

  
Felicity watched feeling a wave of annoyance hit her hard, she moved uncomfortable on her spot, downing her drink with one gulp.

  
“Well I am glad we had to show up in time, but I guess he has to keep appearances” Diggle said sounding apathetic.

  
“He has to walk around like a peacock with his very pretty evil date” she blurted out.

  
“Evil huh?”

  
“Yea… she looks evil”

  
“Ok” he sounded entertained, Felicity saw Oliver walking alone towards them, and she stood up straighter, her shin rising up to meet him.

  
“Good evening guys” his eyes lingered on her, she felt her stomach twirl when his blue eyes scanned her quickly. A wave of satisfaction ran through her.

  
“I don’t know why you asked us to be on time if you were going to show up an hour later” she said sounding annoyed.

  
“I am sorry” he sounded truly apologetic “I was caught up in a bit of a hood trouble earlier today” hood, that is how they called his alternate persona.

  
“The hood, today? Are you okay” she whispered, concerned her hand touched his bad arm.

  
“I am fine, I though I will keep an eye on one of the names from the journal, who also happens to be coming to the party tonight… it kind of backfired on me, but we can speak about it later” he said, his eyes scanning the place.

  
“Well I am glad you are fine, next time I can come with you instead of going to get Felicity… not that I am complaining about being your plus one” Diggle said and she shot him a glance.

  
“Her plus one…? What happened to Barry?” Oliver’s eyes were on her, confused.

  
“He… we are… um” she was blushing and words were missing from her vocabulary “I don’t really have time to date properly, so he said he will be ready when I am more available” it wasn’t a lie, she just chose to hide most of Oliver related things.

  
“Oh, well it’s his loss Felicity” he was serious and for a moment she felt it was only the two of them, she felt naked under his eyes.

  
“Thanks” she mumbled.

  
“So whom are we supposed to be keeping an eye on tonight?” Diggle asked his dark coffee eyes scanned the place quickly.

  
“Marcus Wentworth was on the list, and he is one of the main shareholders of Queen Consolidates” he said his voice was low.

  
“He is not on the board” she said scanning the place, seeing a lot of unknown faces.

  
“He sounds like he could be a winner” Diggle said.

  
“That is what I though… the other one I am thinking is Slade Wilson, he has been trying to acquire a lot of the company but in secret, which we found out about last week thanks to Felicity magic”

  
“We just need to keep an eye on both of them… I have put trackers on both of their cars”

  
She nodded, she knew who Slade Wilson was, he intimidated her and had a lot to say to Oliver in the meetings, disagreeing with him several times. That had sparked on her to investigate him.

  
“I am not sure who Marcus Wentworth is” she said in a whisper.

  
“He is that tall guy with the dark blue suit, by the pillar” she turned to look, he was tall, broad and handsome in a lumberjack kind of way.

  
“The one with the beard?”

  
“Yes”

  
“Ok, I will try to talk to him you two take Slade” she commanded puting her empty cup in the nearest table.

  
“Felicity I don’t think I want you to…”

  
“Oliver, the main reason why I am here is to try to collect information about this guys, anything that might lead us to discovering what went on or might go on, we can split up and cover more space… plus your date is coming over and she scares me”

  
Oliver took an exasperated breath.

  
“Fine, but be careful”

  
“We are surrounded by people, nothing is going to happen” she said and with a confident look she walked away, talking to a few people on her way to Marcus, asking if they needed everything and what they though of the food. She was getting closer, feeling her heart speed inside her chest when she could hear his deep voice, and his dark eyes met hers.

  
She walked towards his group that consisted in three men; she smiled broadly trying to hide her nerves.

  
“Good evening gentleman, I am Mr. Queen’s assistant, and I wanted to check in and see if you were doing ok, if there is something you might want or need?” the live band was setting up, she heard the voice of the singer introduce themselves and congratulate both Moira Queen and Oliver.

  
“I see you take your job seriously Miss…?”

  
“Felicity Smoak” she said with a smile.

  
“Pleasure to meet you Miss Smoak, now is Oliver making you work on a weekend?” Felicity nodded with a slight laugh, she was nervous and her eyes flew towards Oliver who was at the other end of the room, his eyes were on her. She saw him nodding ever so slightly and that gave her some courage.

  
“It's a special occasion... not every day you can celebrate coming back from the dead” she said but her smile never left her face.

  
“I see, well how about you grant me this dance? Maybe a little of fun in a work night won’t bother Oliver” she was not sure she liked Marcus, the way his eyes studied her made her feel dirty.

  
“I could do one dance” she agreed.

  
“Great” and he excused himself from his posy and offered her his arm, they walked to the dance floor where there were about 20 couples dancing. They stopped by the middle of the room and he took her by her waist and brought her near him, his face lingered in her hair and she pulled away uncomfortable.

 

“So you planned all this party?” he asked nonchalant.

  
“I did”

  
“Very nice, good band too, I like the food… is it some kind of Latin food?”

  
“It’s Colombian food actually” she said, glad that they were getting into something that might give her some useful info.

  
“Colombian, I would think Oliver wouldn’t be too fond of anything from there, you know from what happened to him”

  
“Actually he was the one who requested for us to serve it”

  
“Interesting” there was a silence in between both of them.

  
“So, have you ever been in Colombia before?” she asked.

  
“I can’t say I have had the pleasure, but knowing now what happened to Robert and Oliver I guess I better don’t take any chances” his voice turned to a deep soft tone “I have heard it’s filled with beautiful women though… I’d say I personally like mine to be blonde”

  
She stiffened as his hand moved against the skin on her bare back and she tried to pull away but he held her firmly against himself. She didn’t want to make a scene in Oliver’s party.

  
“Can you please not do that?” she asked tightly, her voice was low and she felt repulsed.

  
“Do what?” he sounded innocent and she took a sharp breath.

 

“Oliver has the reputation of being with beautiful women, I guess that’s why he chose you to be his arm candy…”

  
“I beg your pardon?”

  
“You know I could pay you more than he does, definitely give you the weekends off” she didn’t want to make a scene, call attention to the fact that the guy deserved a kick in the balls.

  
“I don’t know what you think I do, but I think you have got it all wrong” she said unkindly.

  
“I do? Well he is showing up his new Ferrari around, leaving his other ride aside to feel alone, but I could take you for a spin make you feel loved again”

  
“What!?”

  
“I will double whatever he is paying you”

  
“If I had a price, believe me… you couldn’t afford me” she said through her teeth, anger was pooling on her stomach, and as she tried to pull away she felt a pang of panic when he held her tighter.

  
“Do you mind if I get this dance?” his voice broke the silence all of the sudden and a wave of relief washed over her when his hand replaced Marcus before waiting for his answer. A thankful grin spread on her face, feeling her heart rush inside her chest as he pulled her close.

 

His eyes were on hers looking dark, then he turned towards the man his brows were frowned. There were no need for words; he knew something had been wrong by Felicity’s body language and expression.

  
“Thank you Marcus” Oliver said with a stern voice but his face wasn’t friendly. The man made a slight bow with his head addressing at Oliver, his brown eyes flying towards Felicity, sparkling with desire as a lavish smile appeared on his face.

  
“Think about it” he said and his thick heavy hands fixed his jacket, Felicity swore she saw him wiggle his eyebrows but maybe that was just her imagination. Her stomach turned and for a moment she imagined punching his face so hard that it calmed her urge to say the few words that had been stuck on her throat for a few minutes now. Turning away from the man she buried her face against Oliver’s chest, breathing deeply the warm scent of his cologne, musk and wood.

  
Oliver’s hand settled on the small of her back, holding her firmly as they swayed around the dance floor, the song had changed to a slower melody. She closed her eyes, forgetting momentarily about the horrible last 10 minutes, letting herself enjoy being close to him.

  
She felt safe in his arms and the though made her stomach twirl. He was not hers; she had to keep reminding herself about the fact that just minutes before he had been side by side to Helena, who happened to be beautifully scary.

  
“Felicity… are you ok?” his voice came low and close to her ear, the air of his breath crashing against the bare skin of her neck and she shivered.

  
She nodded, not because she was actually ok but because she didn’t want to make a big deal about it. She didn’t want to ruin his night like it had been ruined for her. What had happened to her had been so insulting in many levels, and it upset her even more that she had not allowed herself to do more about it.

  
Her silence bothered him, his eyes scanned the place, stopping on Marcus who was now talking to other guests, drinking a dirty martini and laughing casually. Oliver frowned.

  
“What’s going on?” he pressed on, his voice sounded concerned as he pulled away from her. Felicity felt her throat gone dry.

  
“It’s… nothing Oliver” she said quickly, trying to sound convincing but he had not believed her. They danced to the soft melodic voice of the singer and time seemed to have stopped.

  
“Marcus has the reputation of flirting with everyone’s assistants, I have heard he has specially something for blondes” Oliver paused, hearing how Felicity held her breath momentarily. She was flushed and her eyebrows where frowned, he mirrored her expression.

  
“I wouldn’t say he was only flirting with me, that would have been fine… I mean he is a rich, not bad looking man, but he wasn’t flirting, it was more like he was trying to buy me… like I was some kind of object or something” Felicity snapped, she felt Oliver’s hand tighten his grip on her, the hand that was previously resting on her back pressed her closer to him.

  
“What?” his tone was deadly again, she sneaked a peak towards him and noticed a clenched jaw and veins popping on his neck.

  
“It’s fine Oliver, really… I don’t want this jerk to ruin the party for both of us” but she knew that the party was ruined.

  
“What did he say to you Felicity?”

  
“Let’s see, he started with something in the lines of me being your toy and how good it will be to take me for a spin” Felicity felt anger brewing on the pit of her stomach as she remembered his words.

  
“He was talking about me like I was a car… until he wasn’t anymore” Felicity finished; she didn’t want to go to any more detail wanting to omit Marcuse's comment about her being left aside for Helena.

  
Oliver was quiet which made her nervous, his breathing was heavy and the slow dancing had all of the sudden come to a stop. Telling him this mortified felicity, she had made a conscious decision of ignoring Marcus while they were dancing, not to make a scene and ruin the night for Oliver, but seeing the anger growing on his expression made her realized she had just done that.

 

He stepped back from her with his angry face on, Felicity quickly raised her hand holding his arm, and she didn’t understand why she was shaking.

  
“Don’t kill him” she said quickly.

  
“I am contemplating it” he said through gritted teeth, his eyes going past her shoulders to the point in the room where Marcus was.

  
“Oliver, I know you want to make things right for me and believe me I also want this jerk to be put on his place, but the only reason why I didn’t do anything was not to ruin your party…” she said quickly and his eyes went to hers, and for a moment time was lost.

  
“I don’t give a crap about the party, and you know that Felicity”

  
“Yes, but you need to look good in front of these people… there is a good chance to find out who is on your side, and to get the ones that are not on your side to cross over” her other hand now went to his chest, his expression had not changed much, his eyes softened.

  
“Is everything alright?” Helena was there all of the sudden, Felicity had not seen her coming. Her blue eyes traveled from Oliver’s face, to Felicity’s hand that was resting on his chest and then to her face.

  
Her eyes looked dangerous and her tone had not been friendly, Felicity dropped her hand immediately, feeling a mixture of annoyance and self-awareness.

 

“Everything is fine” Oliver answered shortly after, but his voice was distant and even cold.

  
“In that case, I will love to get my date back if possible” it was not a request Felicity noted. She nodded and her hand slowly slipped from his, hating to have to be the one leaving.

  
“Of course” she said in her rambly voice “I didn’t mean to steal off your date, not that I am trying to steal him at all… I meant I didn’t want to hold you both from having a good time and making it into this awkward mess… oh god” she cursed her brain feeling like an idiot as Helena raised one of her brows and an arrogant smile appeared on her face.

  
“Of course you are not…” her voice was poisonous Felicity though as she turned on her heels walking away from the dance floor, without knowing his gaze was fixed on her the entire way.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a while for me to write, I have been so busy with life in general that I have had no time to actually put together all my pieces for this chapter. I just saw the Season3 teaser of Oliver and Felicity almost kissing and OMG, I had to post something.
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you liked it!


	8. Pancakes

 

 

When she woke up the next morning a cold breeze surrounded her and she shivered while her eyes opened slowly. She didn’t remember at first where she was, until the familiar scent of Oliver’s cologne and the foundry came to her. She was lying in a bed and a thick gray blanket was draped over her.

  
She could still taste the flavor of wine in her mouth and a few memories came to her in a flash. She had not been a happy camper when she exited the Queen’s Manor the night before, she had in fact downed three cups of wine in a rush after her interaction with Marcus, and Helena’s words in the dance floor in front of Oliver had been the last drop to tip her over.

  
She had asked the guard by the door to call her a cab and had successfully avoided encountering Diggle and Oliver on her way out. When she left it was raining, the first rain of the season, and it was cold and angry just like she felt. Felicity had decided at the last moment to head to the Foundry instead of home, too irritated at her situation to want to be alone with her thoughts. She realized her dress had moved slightly as she slept and wondered how she had gotten to Oliver’s bed, and that sudden realization made her heart beat fast as her cheeks turned bright red in the darkness of the room. She let her feet hang out of the bed and noticed a cup of steaming coffee in the side table.

  
She smiled and took it quickly; it was raining hard enough for her to hear it from Verdant’s basement. She got up, opting to walk barefoot after not being able to find her heels, the room where Oliver occasionally spent his nights was small, with tall concrete walls and floor, a low small dark wood bed with a nice mattress, puffy pillows and white and dark gray linen sheets, a dark wood side table and a small industrial side lamp. She had never been inside his room other than in fantasies, and the though made her stomach jump in a mixture of anxiety and excitement.

  
“And that is why you got dump” she said to herself in a low sarcastic voice thinking about Barry and their terrible last date. Exiting the room still wrapped in the gray blanket and holding the cup of coffee in her hand, she was not shocked to find Oliver. Her heart jumped nonetheless when she realized he was shirtless, drying his head with a towel.

  
His chest was golden; his skin was marked with new and old scars.

 

He turned towards her his eyes soft and concerned, he put his towel back in his open locker and took a long sleeve shirt out and slid it over his head. He was wearing black sweat pants and slippers. That scene seemed so casual and homey to her, yet strange and nerve racking.

  
“Good morning, I hope you like your coffee” he said walking towards her, the intensity of his gaze made her legs shake she took a deep breath before she could speak, her brain still half asleep.

  
“Yes, thank you… I needed it” her voice was coarse.

  
“You left the party without saying goodbye” he whispered.

  
“Yes, I didn’t feel great after the whole Marcus… Helena being a evil Bit... you know, I better just shut my mouth” she pressed her lips and he just stood quietly looking at her for a moment before speaking.

  
“I will be lying if I said I was not surprised when I found you here last night after the party” she felt her heart hustle and blushed once again.

  
“Ah… yeah, I was in the mood for work”

  
“Is that so?” he smiled lightly.

  
“Well, I was so angry at that Marcus douche that I decided to come back here and do an extensive background check, and I mean all his accounts, all his phone calls, his exes, where he has been… I put trackers in everything he owns, he so much sneezes and I will know” Felicity spoke quickly and had to stop to catch her breath, Oliver was looking at her with raised brows, entertained.

  
“He was feeling in a generous mood last night while he was being a complete creeper at your party, he donated 500,000 dollars to PETA” and she smiled wickedly.

  
“Please remind me to never piss you off”

 

“He won’t know how it happened, if he ever finds out that the money disappeared” she said, she had been talking so quickly she had run out of breath by the end of her sentence.

  
“He won’t notice… his accountants will” he said thinking she looked adorable with her hair slightly messy, wrapped on his blanket.

  
“How is your arm by the way?” she remembered she saw earlier that he was wearing a new bandage over his old wound, and it seemed to have had fresh blood peaking through, he shrugged.

  
“Never been better”

  
“Looked quite red earlier, do you want me to take a look?” she touched his arm and their eyes met once again.

  
“I am ok, I had a little trouble with a guard last night before the party… he hit me pretty hard, it torn some of the stitches open… I patched it up, so it’s fine” his voice was low, her heart was beating so hard in her chest she was afraid he would be able to hear it. Their topic of conversation was something normal for them, work, hood issues, but it felt so different somehow.

  
“That is why you where late to the party last night” it was a statement, but he nodded either way.

  
Felicity had never been in the foundry so early in the morning, much less slept over the night. It was a first and weirdly enough she liked it, waking up and having a casual conversation with Oliver.

  
And it was then when her stomach decided to complain about the lack of food in her system, it had been loud and embarrassing. She felt warm and flustered as Oliver laughed loudly.

  
“Well I guess we should go and get you some breakfast”

  
“Yes, my body is not used to this much talking with this lack of food” she said quickly having a large gulp of coffee hoping that will keep her stomach from embarrassing her once again.

  
“I know a good place that makes the best pancakes in town” he commented walking to his room.

  
“Do you even eat pancakes?” she mused and he turned around with a flash of a smile.

  
“Occasionally” he retorted and was lost in the shadow of his room, Felicity was feeling nervous again, her hands shaking and sweating. She heard thunder and pressed her lips, not ideal to be in the dress she was wearing when it was raining like that.

  
Then she remembered that Diggle had suggested a few weeks back to bring some workout clothes to the Foundry, in case she ever wanted to learn some self-defense. She walked to her locker, where her purse and heels where.

  
“Aha, here you are!” she said referring to her shoes, moving her purse aside she saw that in the back of the shelf there was a pair of black tights, a pink and black workout tank, she also found her one and only pair of workout shoes in the bottom of her locker.

  
She had never really taken the self-defense training that Diggle had offered, but was happy she at least had brought a change of clothing. She checked on Oliver, he was still in his room so she quickly walked towards the bathroom. The room was still steamy from his early morning shower.

  
She quickly changed to her warmer clothes and fixed her hair in a tall ponytail. She was glad she had a little of contact solution in her purse, to freshen up her eyes, and a tiny toothbrush. She left the bathroom feeling refreshed and semi decent for a breakfast outing with Oliver Queen.

  
“What-- are you wearing?” Oliver’s head tweaked to the side, his brows pursing in the middle slightly confused.

  
“Oh, it’s cold so I though I’d change…”

  
“Yes, but are those workout clothes?”

  
“Don’t sound so surprised, I work out… sometimes” she mused walking towards him and he was smiling mockingly at her. She noticed he had changed to a pair of jeans and a thick gray hoodie.

  
“I am sure you do, in all the free time you keep complaining you don’t have” she shot him a warning glance; they were both going up the stairs now. Verdant was empty and quiet, they walked pass the dance floor towards the main entrance,

  
“Dig said if I wanted to learn how to defend myself he will teach me… so I brought my stuff just in case we ever get some time” Felicity said.

  
Oliver was quiet as they got out of the club, seemingly lost in thoughts. He didn’t want Felicity to have to learn self defense, he didn’t want her to be anywhere close to harms way. The morning was gray and it was still raining when they where out. Felicity cursed under her breath, wrapping her arms around herself, shivering as the wind surrounded them, carrying drops of moisture.

  
She saw Oliver’s silver Lotus Elise parked diagonal in two spots.

  
“Wow, amazing parking job” she said ironically, thankful it wasn’t far so she didn’t have to be under the rain for long..

  
“Is that judging I hear?” he asked, and as she turned towards him to respond and noticed how close he was. She felt the warm cloth of his sweater drape around her shoulders, his hands resting on her shoulders for a few seconds.

  
“You could have done a better job at it” she said in a small voice.

  
“It was late… let’s go” and he managed to look good while running to his car under the rain, which annoyed her. She realized as she sat on the seat of his car, that she had never been inside one of his ‘personal’ cars, just the ones Diggle drove on a daily basis to and from work.

  
She was in awed by the clean interior, the tan leather seats that shaped around her body, strangely comfortable for how small everything was. She was geeking around just playing with the radio when she realized Oliver was starring, grinning at her enthusiasm.

  
“Having fun?” he asked in a light tone, his blue eyes were bright and for the first time in what felt like forever he looked and felt truly happy.

  
“I have never been inside such fancy ride” she said honestly, blushing.

  
“You have been inside the Phantom… the Rolls Royce Diggle drives around” he explained at Felicity’s puzzled look. They drove away and she was shaking her head.

  
“Is not the same at all! I mean this feels like being inside Oliver Queen’s date mobile, it feels more intimate somehow-- I mean, I don’t know where I was going with that, I will shut up now” she shook her head annoyed at herself and her usual rambling, looking outside of the window as they drove through the Glades. Avoiding seeing Oliver at all cost, his eyes flew to her and grinned.

  
“Well I am glad you like it, I guess we should do this more often then” she turned to him and their eyes met momentarily. Her throat was dry and her heart jumped in place. She was not sure what his words meant.

  
“Yes, I will like that” she said either way, and smiled to make the moment maybe not as awkward as she felt.

  
“So where is that amazing pancake place you were talking about? Is it where you take all your dates in the morning… not that this is a date, at all” there was a silence that surrounded them. Oliver’s eyes flashed towards her again.

  
“It’s more special than that, I don’t take just anyone there” he said, his tone was playful.

  
They had left the glades and where now driving to the nicer part of town, through long paved roads that serpent around tall pine trees. The streets were nearly deserted that morning.

  
“Well that makes me feel special” she said jokingly.

  
“It should” and it was then that Felicity noticed they were driving towards the Queen’s Manor. She looked at Oliver confused.

  
“Is this a trick? You better feed me some pancakes Oliver, I am hungry” he laughed nodding.

  
“I promise, best pancakes in town”

  
He drove around the brick driveway towards a large four-door garage that was hidden behind the house and a row of tall topiaries. She had been in the Manor several times before, but never had gone in this way.

 

The wooden garage doors opened automatically as he pulled in, the wet tires of the car screeched against the shiny floor and Felicity held her breath, her eyes traveling from one amazing car to the other, and then finishing in the motorcycles at the end.

  
“This place is bigger that my entire apartment” she muffled.

  
Felicity was confused as they walked inside the house through the garage; she walked behind Oliver in silence. Shock had stolen her words, thinking that Oliver was full of surprises that morning.

  
The house was deserted and she was surprised to see there were no traces of the party that taken place there the night before. She felt a wave of pride, thinking she had done a great job picking the companies that where supposed to set up the party and then remove and clean everything out when it was finished.

  
He led her to the kitchen, opening the double doors with both hands; as they walked through a wall of delicious breakfast scent. Felicity blinked in the bright room, normally the house seemed dark to her, due to all the wood panels. But this kitchen was huge and bright. There was a woman in front of the industrial looking stove who turned towards them, a warm loving smile spreading on her face.

  
“Ollie, I though you were not going to make it this morning” she said, a heavy Russian accent behind every word. Oliver glanced at Felicity who was quietly starring around; his hand gently touched her back, leading her to the kitchen island that was made of white marble with dark gray veining.

  
“Would I ever miss your Pancakes Raisa?” he said in a light tone as he pulled a chair for Felicity who silently sat down, her eyes flying towards him. Oliver turned to her to meet her gaze, and winked at her before walking away towards the woman.

 

“No, I guess you wouldn’t” Raisa said back in a motherly tone that made Felicity’s heart melt and a smile appeared on her face.

  
He was speaking Russian before she knew it, and the woman’s dark eyes flew towards her in a flash. A smile spreading slowly on her face, she responded and Oliver walked towards the fridge. Felicity noticed that Raisa was approaching her, holding a plate with a tower of perfectly golden pancakes that smelled even better than they looked, a warm smile on her face.

  
“You look scared” the woman said in a friendly tone putting the plate in front of Felicity, then bending over to pick some plates under the kitchen island.

  
“Oh, not scared… shocked really” Felicity said truthfully and Raisa laughed.

  
“Ollie says you are his friend, it’s the first time he has brought someone over since he came back” the woman said in a conversational mood, her dark eyes flying to Oliver who was approaching them holding a basked filled with strawberries and in the other hand a glass jar full of golden maple syrup.

  
“He said you make the best pancakes in town” Felicity said and Raisa nodded simply.

  
“And he is right” and Felicity laughed softly, turning to see Oliver who was now sitting next to her. He proceeded to fork over two large pancakes to Felicity’s plate and then put five on his.

  
“I though I was the one that was hungry” Felicity said with a laugh, and Oliver just smirked while spreading warm butter in his breakfast.

  
“I introduce you to my favorite food in the whole world” and his serious face told her he was dead serious. She nodded, imitating him, butter and maple syrup. She also put a few strawberries in her plate and was happy to see a cup full of orange juice in front of her, which she assumed had been Raisa’s doing.

  
She moaned as the fluffiness of the pancake melted inside her mouth, he had been right; these were the best pancakes she had ever eaten.

  
After breakfast they stayed with Raisa for a good part of the morning, they talked over coffee about the party the night before. Oliver was checking on the paper when his elbow softly poked her, and he pointed with his blue eyes towards the main page of the paper.

  
It read ‘The hood helps cops to put Triad in Jail’, Felicity’s eyes flew to Oliver and a smile spread on her face as he rolled the paper and put it back on the table.

  
“I heard that last night you had some troubles with one of the main holders on Queen Consolidate” Raisa’s voice took them for surprise, and Felicity’s heart started to beat quicker now as she turned to Oliver once again. He was serious when shrugged.

  
“He had drank too much, and seemed to be harassing some of the girls in the party” he said simply, his eyes fixed on the woman in front of him, who raised both brows shaking her head.

  
“I hate those man that are pigs, specially the ones with money, because they feel they can do whatever they please” she said, her accent strong and Felicity’s heart was beating fast inside of her chest.

  
“Oliver…” she started but stopped when she felt a warning glance. Oliver took a breath and with a swift move checked his watch.

 

“Oh wow, it’s 11 already--we should get going, thank you so much for this amazing breakfast Raisa” he said as he got up, Felicity following closely behind.

  
“Thank you for showing up, Thea has not woken up yet and I though I was going to have to eat all these by myself” Felicity smiled when she saw Oliver hugged the woman lovingly, something he had never done with Moira in front of her.

  
Oliver said something in Russian and the lady replied with a smile, before waving Felicity with a warm smile.

  
“You bring Miss Smoak again soon Ollie, I have never seen someone eat my pancakes with so much pleasure before” Oliver nodded with a smile and Felicity nodded blushing, remembering all the moans and comments she said while eating, and without another word the both of them walked out of the kitchen in silence.

  
*****

 

It took them a couple minutes to reach the garage again, and it was then that Felicity couldn’t hold it any longer.

  
“What did you do?” she asked, her voice was anxious, he walked to the Lotus they had driven in before. He turned towards her his lips pursed together.

  
“Nothing, don’t worry” but she didn’t buy it.

  
“It didn’t sound like nothing” Oliver gave her a slightly exasperated look and got in the car, she rushed to get in as well fearing he was annoyed enough to leave her there.

  
The car was playing a soft song and they both sat in silence for a minute before Felicity turned to him.

  
“Don’t get me wrong I really, really wanted you to kick his ass, believe me if I knew how to I would have done it myself, but I don’t want you to get into trouble with your company for a stupid jerk” Oliver took a deep breath and his eyes were on her, a look so intense that it made a shiver run through her body.

  
“I can’t tolerate someone harassing my employees Felicity, no matter who he is, whether it’s in the company or in my own house, I simply I told him that” Felicity felt a wave of disappointment wash over her, she nodded letting the air she was holding out, turning her head to the front letting her sight get lost in the cars in front of her.

  
There was a minute of silence.

  
“I had heard rumors that Marcus was harassing some of the assistants, or secretaries, front desk girl that quit all of the sudden… no one summited a complaint that I knew of, so there was little for me to do in that respect, when I saw him taking you to dance I—I was afraid he will say something to you that will upset you, objectify you in some way” his voice sounded angry, and when she turned to him he was still looking at her. His expression was similar to the one he had last night when they were dancing, before Helena came by.

  
“Well thank you, not only from me but from all the ones he previously had harassed… maybe that will make him stop at least in QC” she said slowly.

  
“I want him to be aware that he needs to keep away from you, so I don’t have to really hurt him later on” he said and her heart came to a halt.

  
“You don’t mean that”

  
“But I do, I don’t know if this is the guy who paid to get us kidnapped, have my dad, Diggle’s brother and Sara killed” his face was red with anger, and she reached and held his hand, squeezing it slightly.

  
“I am just glad you didn’t kill him last night, that’s all” she said and a soft smile appeared on her face.

  
“I told you, I considered it… but Diggle talked me out of it”

  
“Well… I guess I should take more than a self-defense class from Diggle then” Oliver took a sharp breath and squeezed her hand back.

  
“You also made your point last night…” he said and his tone was lighter once again.

  
“Before your evil girlfriend interrupted our dance” she didn’t want to sound hostile, but she did.

  
“Evil… why do you call her that? And just for the record, she is not my girlfriend Felicity”

  
“She is not? Does she know that?”

  
“Helena and I are some haunted souls that occasionally date… we aren’t ready for a relationship” and she didn’t want to talk about it, but the masochist side on her couldn’t help but to want to know.

  
“Well, for just dating and not being on a serious relationship she seems awfully aggressive towards me”

  
“Not everyone understands our friendship”

  
“Right…” they were driving now, rain was just a drizzle in a gloomy day.

  
“What happened to you and Barry?” he asked after a moment of silence, his eyes were fixed in the road in front of him, but Felicity noted his face was flushed.

  
“Oh, he broke up with me… he was also confused by our complicated friendship” Oliver shot her a quick glance.

  
“Really?” he seemed shocked.

  
“Yes, he said you gave him the stink eye too” Oliver laughed, but it sounded a little forced, his brow was slightly frowned.

  
“He said that huh?”

  
“Yup” she nodded, tapping her leg with her fingers. Oliver pressed his lips, a sea of thoughts crossing through his brain. He turned towards her in the stoplight.

  
“And what do you think?” it took her by surprise; she turned towards him slightly confused.

  
“About what? Him breaking up with me or you giving him the nasty look, or our complicated relationship, or the lack of it” she blushed immediately after realizing what she had said, her hand going to her temple. Oliver was still looking at her.

  
“All of it, what do you think about us?” he asked finally.

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I am being evil stopping the chapter here but I have run out of writing time today, and wanted to post it. I hope you enjoyed this heavily Olicity episode, I nearly had a heart attack after seeing the promo images going around the Internet. Can’t wait for October!


	9. Crash and burn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off I want to apologize for taking so long to update this story, I was moving countries, selling my house, etc. Writing had to be put on hold for the time being. While my life was a complete caos the 3rd season started and Holy Shit! That first episode… did anyone else died with that kiss?
> 
>  
> 
> Either way, if you are craving some Olicity, keeps on reading! And I apologize in advance for the cliché’s in the bottom. I hope you enjoy!

 

 

 

_“About what? Him breaking up with me or you giving him the nasty look, or our complicated relationship, or the lack of it” she blushed immediately after realizing what she had said, her hand going to her temple. Oliver was still looking at her._

_“All of it, what do you think about us?” he asked finally._

 

 

Felicity felt her mouth dry and her heart accelerated in her chest; she turned towards him her face blushed and surprised. She felt her hands tremble and she interlaced her fingers across her lap to mask her shaking hands.

 

 

Oliver had stopped the car in a stop light and his blue eyes were fixed on her with a soft expression. Her mouth opened several times but she couldn’t find words that wouldn’t sound weird, or that will give away any sign of hope she might be harvesting. She took a deep breath to calm her nerves, assuring herself that she was over reading this.

 

 

“I—is there an us…? Like an us, us?” she said finally, her voice sounded more stable than she felt.

 

 

“I— don’t know, I never though about it that way, not at least for a while, but then when Barry came into the picture it made me realize that maybe you meant more to me than just my friend, or my partner” he said, her heart jumped in her chest and he tightened his lips, his cheeks blushing slightly. She blinked thinking she might have imagined it all.

 

 

“I want to make sure I am not imagining all this, are you saying you might want something more than what we have right now, more than friendship?”

 

 

“I can’t deny you or myself anymore that I was actually relieved, glad even when you told me that Barry and you had broken up” he paused and Felicity blushed.

 

 

“You did?” she sounded as shocked as she felt.

 

 

“I did” and it was then when she heard the loud crash, the glass breaking around them and everything going black.

 

 

oooo

 

 

 

 

“Felicity-- hey” it was his voice; low and raspy, sounding concerned a million miles away from her.

 

 

Her eyes opened slowly as she woke up with a pouncing headache, her eyesight was blurry and her body ached. She felt sore and as her consciousness started to become sharper she realized with horror she was tide up, her hands bound behind her back around a metal chair. Her shoulders hurt almost as much as her head, and she could feel a cold sticky liquid coming slowly down the side of her right cheek.

 

 

“Felicity” she blinked up, his voice was still mumbled by the drumming on her ears.

 

 

She was confused for a moment, and all she remembered was being nervous talking with Oliver about their relationship. She blinked in the darkness of the humid room and her heart spiked with terror.

 

 

“Oliver!?” she shrieked, she realized her vision was blurry not only from her head injury, but because she didn’t have her glasses on, her contacts must have moved.

 

 

“I am here Felicity, are you ok?” his voice was a panicked whisper.

 

 

“Where are we?” she turned and winced at the pain on her neck.

 

 

“What do you feel? Don’t move much, you hit your head pretty hard” her heart was beating fast, she felt numb with adrenaline.

 

 

“Where are we Oliver” she asked again, her vision sharpening more, her eyes adjusting to the darkness of the room. She could now see he was also tide like her, but was moving his arms with purpose.

 

 

“We have been kidnapped, I was passed out for most of the trip so I am not 100% sure where we are exactly, but I know that we were in a truck for a while” he said, his forehead wet with sweat.

 

 

“Who… how?”

 

 

He stopped what he was doing momentarily, his head perking up as he heard sounds from outside, behind a heavy metal door that enclosed them in that large wet warehouse.

 

 

After a few minutes of quietness he preceded, she guessed he was trying to unbind his wrists. She tried to move hers, to imitate whatever he was doing, but they were tide too tight, and she gasped in pain once again.

 

 

“A big truck hit us while we were stopped, I am guessing they followed us from my house… not sure who, but I am going to guess it’s related to what happened in Colombia” a chill ran through her.

 

 

“Oh…” she was freaking out, his blue eyes were on her, she saw he was worried but he seemed determined.

 

 

“Don’t worry Felicity, we will be all right I promise you” she saw he was also hurt, there was a gaping gauge in his forehead, and his knee was bloody, staining red his jeans.

 

 

“You are hurt”

 

 

“I am fine” tears welled up in her eyes, she didn’t know what to do, how to help, and she felt powerless. Her heart jumped in panic when the screeching sound of the metal door opening echoed around the room. They both turned towards two men that were approaching them, both with slimy grins on their faces.

 

 

They were tall, strong and very tattooed. Both of them were wearing black jeans, tshirts and coats. It was then that she realized she was shivering; it was bellow 50 degrees in the warehouse and it was raining outside. A lightning illuminated in a flash the room, and she noticed there was a table full of torture devices against a wall behind Oliver, thunder followed closely. Her panicked eyes went to Oliver’s, she saw his brows were meeting in the middle. He now seemed cold, calm and determined; the hood mask had come down. She wished she had one, and was now regretting not taking those stupid lessons from Diggle.

 

 

“Well look at what we have here, our two guests of honor have woken up from their little nap” said one of them, he was bald and had yellowish sharp teeth. 

 

“Pitty, we wanted to wake you up with an special call… maybe tomorrow” Oliver’s jaw was tight and his bright eyes were following the man who was closer to Felicity.

 

“Who are you” Oliver asked, his voice deep and angry.

 

“Who we are it’s not important boy, what we will be doing to you is what you should be concerning your pretty little head with” the other man with caramel skin said, he had a scar in his face and was approaching Oliver with determination.

  

“Finish the job he said to us, and so we will”

  

“Who said this?” Oliver asked and a screamed escaped Felicity’s mouth when the man with the scar hit Oliver hard on the side of his face.

  

“That is more like it, I like her reaction better” said the man with the scar once again, hitting Oliver in the jaw hard enough to make his face bloody.

 

“Stop, please stop” Felicity started crying. The man turned towards her, walking with a slow pace, his eyes travelling up and down her body.

 

“I was pleased to see you where with this one…. An added bonus, I think we will have some fun with her before we kill you, maybe even let you watch” Felicity held her breath when his thick callused fingers touched the edge of her jaw before slapping her face. She stopped crying, feeling a wave of anger running through her, her heart was beating fast and her eyes went to Oliver, he was staring at her and it was then when she saw him nod ever so slightly.

 

“Maybe we will both do her at the same time, what do you say Brad?” the man with the scar said and the bald man who had disappeared in the darkness laughed. The sound of a sharpening object in the background made Felicity shiver. 

 

“Leave her alone, she has nothing to do with me… she is just my assistant” Oliver said.

 

“How convenient, an assistant who happens to be at your house on a Saturday morning” Brad said reappearing from the shadows, holding a long shimmering knife.

 

“Maybe she knows how to do a lot more than filing paperwork and picking up calls” said Scarface.

 

“We will get to find that out before we kill her, just like they did with the other blonde chick in Colombia” Oliver’s browns were frowned and it was the trigger he needed, he flew out of the chair towards Brad who unprepared took a punch to his face that knocked him cold to the ground.

 

“Oliver behind you!” Felicity screamed as Scarface took a pistol out of his belt; Oliver jumped aside evading the bullets the man shot to him, hiding momentarily behind a pillar in the shadows. Felicity’s heart jumped when the guy turned towards her, gun pointed to her face.

 

“You will regret that move Queen” the guy snarled and Felicity closed her eyes feeling the burning barrel against her temple, waiting for the bang, the darkness, but she heard instead a gargling noise. When she opened her eyes she saw the man was now bleeding through his mouth, with a thin knife going though his neck. Felicity screamed when he plummeted to the ground. Oliver ran towards her, his eyes were on her briefly before flying towards Brad, who he had knocked out before, his hands where untying her wrists.

 

“I don’t know how many of them are outside, we need to be careful, quiet and fast” he said in a low voice that was matter of factly, she felt relieved when her hands where free to move and she rubbed her wrists while he went to the other guy and used the ropes that had bound them before to tide him over.

 

She saw him picking up a gun and without hesitation took the iron baton he offered her. It was heavier than she had ever imagined, and thought for a brief moment she will never think that cops were weak or fluffy ever again.

  

They ran quietly towards the door and she waited for him to signal her before both of them ran out. There was a hall with tall shelves with stacked large boxes. The place looked nearly abandoned and empty she thought. By the time they got to the front door Oliver signaled her to stop, there where two armed guards at the front. She waited behind the wall, feeling her heart beat so fast she though she was going to give them away.

 

Oliver disappeared behind the door and all she could hear was commotion, shots and then silence. She was panicked and raised her weapon to the upcoming person, to drop it relief when she saw it was him.

 

“Oliver thank god” she said and without even thinking about it, she hugged him tightly. She felt his hand rest momentarily on the small of her back and felt his heart beating through the vein in his neck.

 

“We don’t have much time, I think they might have called in and told someone I had escaped… we seem to be surrounded by trees, perhaps in a mountain” his voice came next to her ear and she nodded backing away.

 

“Do they have a phone, if they do we could try to call Digg and he can pin our location from the foundry” Oliver nodded and his hand wrapped around her arm pulling her out, his head going from side to side in constant alert.

  

She realized the sun was setting and the sky was cloudy and rainy, they both ran towards the nearest fallen guy, she checked in his pocket while Oliver checked the surroundings.

 

“Gotcha” she said feeling victorious, getting the phone out of the guy’s pocket, and avoiding taking a look to his face. She could care less if he was alive or not, but didn’t want to see him.

  

“No signal” she said her eyes meeting his.

  

“We need to go, the safest bet will be to run through the woods, find a spot where we get cellphone coverage… I don’t think we are too far from the city” in three large strides he was next to her, his face now wet with rain and the blood washing away.

 

She felt his hand grab hers and with another quick glance in their surroundings they were off.

 

 

oooo

 

 

Felicity didn’t know for how long she ran, but she knew that she was exhausted, she barely could see anything in front of them as they avoided branches and uneven grounds. Her chest hurt from fatigue and her head was pouncing worst than before. She was also cold, but was thankful that the heavy trees were covering them from most of the rain. Oliver seemed to be in his habitat, he stopped from time to time, checking that no one was following them, making sure they weren’t leaving too much of a trail. She trusted him to keep them alive and get them out of that mess.

 

 

“If we don’t get out of these woods we will never be able to find any cellphone coverage Oliver, and this things is almost out of battery” she said stopping, trying to catch her breath, feeling hungry and too tired to keep going “we have been running for hours”

  

She knew she was whining, which wasn’t helping their situation, but she felt like a wreck. He was silent for a moment.

 

“I think we are not far away from some civilization, we just have to keep going for a little longer, I really need you to gather all the strength you might have left Felicity”

  

“How do you know…? That we are close I mean –“ 

 

“Chopped trees, some trails… we aren’t far from something” she took a deep breath and nodded. They walked this time, Oliver was a few meters in front of her, and she admired in silence how much stamina he seemed to have. When she started to feel the cold and exhaustion made it hard to breathe, she saw that it in between the heavy leaves of the trees, and the rain there was a small log cabin not too far from them. She gasped at the discovery and saw Oliver turning to her with a look of relief in his face.

  

“Do you think it’s vacant?” she asked in a low voice, afraid that if it was in fact not unoccupied someone will hear them, but he nodded his head and with carefulness started to walk towards it.

  

“Stay here, I will come to get you once I make sure is safe”

 

“But—“

  

“No buts, it might be dangerous and I will move faster if it’s only me” he said and his voice was definite.

  

She stayed behind even though she felt nervous about him going on by himself. She was aware that in reality she couldn’t protect him fiscally if it came to a fight, but she always though four eyes will be better than two, even though hers were slightly blurry at the time. She stayed next to a tree where Oliver had left her, holding her iron baton with wet slippery fingers, seeing his silhouette move with care around the windows, disappearing momentarily before coming out and moving his hand in the air, signaling her to approach.

 

Her heart told her she was nervous but excited about the possibility of not having to sleep under the cold rain, when she was finally under the roof of the house her eyes met his and for the first time that night she felt a different kind of nervousness.

  

“We should be safe here during the night” he said and his eyes were charged with energy, something that made her stomach turn and her mouth go dry momentarily.

 

She nodded and swallowed heavily when his hand touched her shoulder lightly.

 

“Why don’t you go in and find something to clean up those wounds while I make sure we haven’t being followed” his voice was gentle when his fingers brushed the skin on her face, close to where her wound was. Her reaction was to bring her own hand up to meet his, having forgotten she was injured the sharp pain in her head was not a welcome reminder.

 

“Right” she said and he disappeared in the darkness of the night once again. The door was open, and she realized he had broken one of the windows to get in, she made a mental note to repay from Oliver’s account to whomever this cabin belong to.

 

The place was dark and it smelled like no one had been there for a while, but in the darkness it looked homey enough. It was a small space of 500 sqft at most, a bed in the back wall, a door that led to a small bathroom and next to the front door a small kitchenette.

  

She noticed that there was a fireplace as well, which she guessed they couldn’t turn on.

 

“One bed” Felicity said in a whisper, her eyes fixed in the full size bed in front of her. It had white sheets and handmade quilt on top. Her heart was racing inside her chest.

  

“I can sleep on the floor” she heard his voice next to her making her jump on her place.

 

“Oliver-- we just ran for three hours from some scary kidnappers, after being on a car accident… the least of my worries is if we sleep in the same bed--” she said in her usual rambly voice, she was blushing quicker than she spoke “-- even though we were talking this morning about our strange relationship”

  

“Okay” He didn’t say much the rest of the night, he closed himself in the bathroom and took a shower, when he got out, and he was wearing his jeans and a towel around his shoulders, he had patched up his head wound.

 

Felicity had spent that time examining the place; she had lit up a few candles and had made some hot tea from stuff she found in the covers. She had also managed to find food.

 

“I see you found something to eat” he said in a more casual tone, she turned towards him from the kitchen her eyes traveling his naked chest feeling a wave of nervousness run through her.

 

“A can of tuna and crackers had never looked so good to me before” she said quickly, handing him a plate with half of the portion.

 

“Did you have any luck with the cellphone?” she shook her head.

 

“Very little battery left and no signal…” she saw him clench his jaw, losing some of his patience “the good news are that after we get home we might be able to use this to track who these people made their last call to” she had his attention once again.

  

“Finding this could lead us to who hired them”

 

“Exactly” she saw a ghost of a smile flash on his face.

 

He took a bite and walked away with plate in hand, she noticed that he seemed a bit more tense than usual, barely looking at her for long. He walked around examining the place and in silence she observed him while eating her food in silence.

  

“Your arm stitches… did they tore again?” she commented looking at the new gauze he had placed on top of it. She had found a first aid kit in the closet among a shot gun and some man oversized clothing, that seemed clean enough for her to wear to sleep in while her own clothes dried.

 

“It’s fine…”

 

She walked towards him after seeing a larger bruise in his ribcage, concern pooling on her face.

 

“Oliver you are hurt” she said worried, her hand going towards his chest, his hand came on top of hers, warm and lightly sweaty. She swallowed when his eyes buried on hers, his pupils dilated.

 

“I am fine Felicity” he assured her with a deeper voice.

 

“It doesn’t look fine” she muttered.

  

“It looks worst than it is, I don’t have any fractured ribs…”his voice was low, he was close to her his eyes went from hers to her lips and her legs trembled.

 

“I can’t believe this happened, this morning—it felt so right” she said in a small voice, his skin was burning under her touch.

 

“I am a moving target” he said simply and she pursed her lips to a small line. His brows were frowned.

 

“They didn’t know they were kidnapping the hood, which gave us the upper hand. You saved us Oliver” Felicity said, her voice also serious but a small smile appearing on her face.

 

“We are in this mess because of me in the first place” he said softly too, and she shook her head, her other hand going towards his face, cupping his chin.

 

“This is _not_ your fault Oliver, you can’t blame yourself for everything that happens—you were a target, because of your money, because of your last name, not because of anything you did”

  

“I put you in danger this morning” he said and she could see painted on his face how truly mortified he was about it, and that made her heart twist with pain.

 

“I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else” and it was true, waking up in his bed, to his scent, their casual talk that morning, the pancakes. She had felt at home.

 

“Thank you” he said gently after a pause, his hand going to her shoulder touching her bare skin that was lightly dotted with freckles. She felt his touch travel to her shoulder blade and a shiver ran through her. She lost herself into his eyes and the closeness of his face.

 

His lips were on her forehead and her heart jumped in her chest, but without over thinking it much she wrapped her arms around him into a hug, cradling her head in his chest, closing her eyes and enjoying the quick pace of his heart.

  

“Let’s get some rest” she said against his chest and he nodded, his arms wrapped around her body.

  

“We should,…” he said even though he knew he was not going to be able to sleep that night.

 

 

 

oooo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I know—I know I should have probably moved them closer in this particular situation, by god I wanted to, but just like it happens the complete opposite at times, this time around it felt forced. I started writing this chapter with fully intensions of having them kiss perhaps, but I felt like after all they had gone through the day, making out will be the last thing in their minds.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> Either way, what did you think!?


	10. alive

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone who has taking some time to read my story. I wanted to thank everyone that left comments and critiques last week. Since this English is not my first language, any constructive critiques are welcome so I can improve my writing. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter, and see you at the end!

She was sitting in her favorite spot at the foundry, her fingers typing away in her computer’s keyboard. She heard a noise coming from her back, quick steps in the metal staircase; she smiled when she saw that it was Oliver. He was coming down the stairs in a slight jog, his blue eyes fixed on her.

 

 

His expression was animated and he was wearing his leather costume, his hands put his hood down when he hit the bottom floor. His lips moved they way they normally did when he was asking her if she had found something relevant to their new mission, but she couldn’t hear words, not until he came closer to her.

 

 

The sound of a sharpening object was all she could hear, and the cold of the warehouse that surrounded her. He was just feet away, his lips had stop moving, his eyes closed and when his lips opened a spit of blood came out hitting her face. A shimmering silver blade had come through his chest.

 

 

And she screamed his name loudly shaking in despair, but no sound came out of her mouth and his eyes didn’t opened again.

 

 

“Felicity— is just a dream” a large hand was on her shoulder, shaking her to urge her to wake up. She felt a knot on her throat as her eyes fluttered open. She could see in between tears Oliver’s face in front of her, illuminated by the soft light of a candle flame.

 

 

It took her a moment to realize they were both in the small bed in the log cabin. It was cold and she was still nuzzled under the covers. Oliver was just lying on top of the quilt, and his eyes looked troubled and tired as he looked at her.

 

 

“Just a bad dream” he repeated in a soft voice. His face was close; she could feel the warmth coming through him and a wave of feelings overcame her. She though for a horrible moment she had lost him, and even though it had been brief it had completely tore her apart.

 

 

“Oliver— I had lost you” she said, her voice broken.

 

 

“I am here--” his voice was deep; the sound made her calm and she allowed herself to breathe at ease once again.

 

 

She didn’t think about it, in her sleepy state she raised her hand towards his face, touching the stubble on his cheek, her fingers trailed to his lips and he went still for a moment under her touch. She didn’t know when he had decided to finally get in bed, how late it was, or if they will make it out of that mess alive the next day, all she knew was that he was there _alive_ and so was she.

 

 

She got lost in the deepness of his eyes. Her heart jumped inside her chest as she came closer to him, pressing her lips to his in a soft kiss. She heard him hold his breath as her lips moved on top of his, then she felt his hand move down her arms, and he was kissing her back.

 

 

His lips moved with hers, first soft and then more forceful. Her skin was warm, and she felt a wave of desire run through her body, pooling in the pit of her stomach. Her arms wrapped behind his neck as he moved closer to her, his skilled tongue dancing around her mouth. Her fingers teased his hair, traveling down the skin of his neck, down his bare back, tracing the scars around his shoulder blades. Their lips broke apart, breathing in for air, their eyes meeting for a moment in silence.

 

 

She could see that he was debating on what to do next, but she didn’t want to overthink her feelings, for once she wanted to let it go, she wanted _him_ to let go. But then he was pulling away from her slowly, rolling onto his back. His breath was quick and she could see as his hands abandoned her body how he clenched them into fists, closing his eyes.

 

 

“Oliver…?” she was confused at first, still feeling her lips warm and raw, and her heart pouncing inside of her chest.

 

 

“Yea?” he sounded more distant now; it was a mask that she knew well.

 

 

“Right…” it was all she said upset with a frown, she saw his eyes opening slowly, traveling towards her. Even though his voice had sounded cold, she could see his eyes were pained. She pressed her lips and rolled her eyes before turning to her side to give him her back. It had been their first kiss, and her knees were still shaking from the effects of it. She had always dreamed of how Oliver tasted, or the way he might kiss her. Now that she knew she craved more, she wanted him even though her body ached, and she too was tired to consider any sort of activity that didn’t represent her sleeping.

 

 

She closed her eyes forcefully, trying to breath easily to appear to be sleeping when she really wanted to just walk out and get some air. She felt him move and then the weight next to her was gone, she didn’t move but just heard him stepping away, the bathroom door opening and closing a minute later. Even though she was upset a moment before, she smiled because she knew now how much her kiss had affected him as well. The fast beating of her heart didn’t slow down. She sat on her spot sliding her legs out of the bed, wincing slightly as her feet hit the cold floor.

 

 

She walked quietly towards the bathroom, the door was not entirely closed and she could hear the water of the sink running. She opened the door slowly, letting the dim light of the bathroom wash over her. Oliver had both hands on each side of the porcelain sink, his head was slumped in between his shoulders and when he heard her come in he raised his head, eyes deep in emotion. She never felt so nervous before, her legs were shaking not knowing really what she was hoping to accomplish. She saw him straighten up as he turned to face her, the bathroom seeming much smaller than she remembered.

 

 

He walked towards her, his steps were quick and before she could breathe out his name, his hand cupped one of her cheeks and his lips were on hers. She stumbled back and his other hand steadied her, her back hit the door closing it behind her. She gasped feeling the warmness of his body pressing against her. His lips traveled down the skin of her neck, she could feel his arousal under his pants and her own needs made her press against his body. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, enjoying the feeling of his lips against her skin.

 

He groaned deeply when she moved against him, her center pressing against his hard body, both craving more skin. His hands grabbed the end of her shirt and started to pull it off over her head. She held her breath, embarrassed to be half naked in front of him for the first time. His eyes were filled with desire and the realization made her knees weak. He kissed her hard, his hands traveling down her chest, cupping one of her breast softly, while his other hand was untying the strings of her pants.

 

The pants felt to the floor with a soft thump, and she moved her hips forward groping against his pelvis once again, feeling drunk with desire. His lips abandoned hers, trailing the previous path down her neck towards her chest, she moaned when his lips traced kisses down her chest while his hands went inside her panties in a smooth move.

 

She moaned loudly as the pleasure ran through her for the pit of her stomach down to her toes. She breathed out his name and his lips came to meet hers. Her hands played outside the rim of his sweatpants, feeling her heart pouncing strongly her hand finally came inside it finding what her heart had been racing for. She stroked his length and he let go of a soft groan that made her insides ache for him. His wide hands grabbed her legs and helped her wrap them around his hips with a smooth fluid movement, he pressed her against the cold wall and while he kissed her neck his hands pulled aside her underwear just before going inside her.

 

 *****

 

 

 

 

The rays of sun came through the curtains; Felicity eyelids opened slowly and her vision sharpened slightly. She saw the wooden walls, the white curtains that moved with the slight breeze of the cracked window. It took her a while to remember where she was, but the soreness on her body was a quick reminder. She took a deep breath and turned to her side, her arm flopping down heavily on top of the other side of the bed that was unmade but empty. She sat on her spot immediately, her heart racing.

 

“Oliver?” she asked, her voice panicked.  She didn’t know if all her memories from the night were true or just vague dreams and nightmares. She remembered soft lips, touches and running water from afar. Her cheeks flushed when the covers came down her chest to reveal her naked body.

  

She heard quick steps and the front door of the cabin opening quickly and she pull the covers up just in time before Oliver walked through the door. His face was alert and his eyes examined the place quickly, before stopping on her, she noticed his cheeks were also flushed when his eyes met hers.

  

“Is everything alright?” she asked finally after a moment of silence, she was not exactly sure as to what exactly she was referring to, their moment last night or the fact that they had escaped kidnappers and where lost in the middle of nowhere.

 

“It doesn’t look like our captors are in our trail, I have made several runs around the perimeter. I also got in touch with Digg briefly… he was running our location before the cellphone ran out of battery” she was glad that he had gone with the second option, she felt self aware, naked in front of him, barely covered by blankets, still smelling a lot of him in her skin.

  

He was wearing his clothes from yesterday, plus a thick beige jacket that they had found in the cabin the night before, it was a little too big for him but he still managed to look hot in a disheveled kind of way. She swallowed blushing more intensely as her though went back to the bathroom the night before. She needed to stay focused.

  

“Do you think he knows were we are?” she asked and she could tell by his expression he was not sure.

 

“He had been looking for us the whole day yesterday, the cops are on it as well. They found my car wrecked and a few signs that it wasn’t a regular accident”

  

“Well that should make me feel better” Felicity said, but it didn’t.

 

“I’m sure he will find a way to get to us, we can wait here until noon, if nothing has happened I say we head downhill, I have seen more signs of civilization heading west” he said, and she breathed out.

 

“The computers at the Foundry only take 1 minute to ping a GPS signal, maybe 3 if it’s way out of reach—I am confident we will be fine” she said it, but wasn’t sure she completely felt it. His blue eyes were fixed on her and she felt her rambly voice bubble in her throat.

 

“How long ago did you wake up? Did I let you sleep? This is a very small bed and well— I move a lot. I don’t remember exactly when I fell asleep…” she said quickly and she could see one of the corners of his lips twitch up and a ghost of a smile.

 

“I slept fine” he assured her; his voice was soft and personal. She held the sheets around her body tighter and smiled slightly at him. He wasn’t talking about it, but was not walking away either, and the though made her feel warm and fuzzy inside.

 

“I will get out of here so you can get dress” he said.

 

“Not that you haven’t see me already” and now she was sure he was blushing and that made her smile broaden.

 

“I have more than just seen you” he said after a brief pause and with a last look and side grin he walked out of the cabin closing the door behind himself, leaving her there with her heart racing inside her chest.

  

The day seemed cold and gray but it wasn’t raining much, she walked out of the bathroom refreshed with her old clothes and her hair up in a ponytail. He was waiting outside sitting by the steps of the small porch, his elbows resting in his knees he turned to see her approach him.

 

“Your clothes dried?” he asked nonchalant and she nodded, taking a sit on the other side of the steps.

  

Now that it was bright out she could really see how beautiful the forest was, tall pine trees and ground covered with pine needles. There was a clearing where the house was and a clear hiking trail to the right, which she guessed went west.

 

“I would have never imagine this was this beautiful last night” she commented feeling peaceful in the quietness of the place, her eyes still fixed in the forest in front of her.

 

“Perfect for a little get away cabin in the middle of nowhere” he murmured, she turned to him and smiled.

 

“I wouldn’t mind having one of these—if I was rich” he looked at her quietly for a moment.

 

“I guess so, ideal home to scream for a serial killer to show up at your doorstep” he said with one raised brow.

 

“Seriously rich boy, serial killer? You sure know how to kill the charm out something like this” she muttered shaking her head.

  

“Tell you what, after we find whoever did this to us I will take you to my family’s vacation home” she turned to him once again blushing intensely, her heart jumping in her chest.

  

“I can’t even picture how that will look like if this looks like a serial killer house to you” he smiled facing towards the forest.

  

“It will be more of a surprise then--”

  

It was then that she saw in between the trees of the trail a tall dark silhouette approach. Oliver got to his feet in a split of a second, his hand quickly drawing out the gun that was tucked away in the back of his pants.

 

Felicity got up with a yelp but a wave of relief washed over her to see it was Diggle, both hands raised up and a grin appearing quickly on his handsome face.

 

“John!” she ran so quickly towards him she was hugging him before she knew it. She was very glad to see him there, and to know they were going home safe and sound.

 

“Are you okay?” Diggle’s protective voice was next to her ear and as she pulled back he examined the cut in her face, his brows furrowing and his deep eyes meeting Oliver who was now there as well.

 

“Glad you found us” Oliver said.

 

“They got you both good” Diggle said, his eyes checking Oliver’s head wound.

 

“I am just glad we can go home now” Felicity said.

 

“I parked close to the town, the car it’s just a few miles away—I didn’t see any signs of whoever kidnapped you guys but I’d say it’s better to get out of this shithole quickly”

  

“Better watch your mouth Diggle, this is Felicity’s dream house” she turned towards Oliver with open lips and wrinkled brows.

  

“I just said it _seemed_ like a nice vacation home” the three of them exchanged looks before laughing and a minute or two later they were off that place, to never come back again.

 

Felicity did look back and caught a glance of the chimney at a distance and remembered the night before and a broad smile reappeared on her face as they walked down the trail. She felt alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And this one was steamy!  
> I know this one is a short chapter in comparison to my previous ones, but I didn’t want to not publish one this week. I can’t wait for next week’s episode, and get the inspiration I need to write my next one. I hope you are holding up all right and enjoyed this little episode.
> 
> Pls leave comments and likes.


	11. Truth and Lies

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Thank you so much for all the kudos, I removed the repeated chapter... it was too late at night the day I was uploading all of those. I have had a blast in general with this story. It’s tying me over til our ship gets together in the show. Either way this chapter was a lot of fun to write, I hope you enjoy it!

 

 

She was quiet as they drove back to Starling City, holding in one of her hands the phone they had gotten from the kidnappers. It had started raining when they had arrived to the car and she was happy to be in the dry warm vehicle going home. Diggle and Oliver had been talking the entire time and she occasionally felt eyes on her from the review mirror. She had managed to block away most of their conversation, not really in the mood to speak about how to proceed, her head not in the game. When she looked up she saw his blue eyes fixed on her, it was then that she noticed they were both quiet now.

 

 

“Felicity?” she blinked heavily, exhaustion catching up to her.

 

 

“Huh?”

 

 

“We were saying we don’t think it will be safe for you to stay at your place, not until we find out who is doing this and how much they know about you” she woke up from her trance immediately.

 

 

“What? Well where else am I supposed to go?” she didn’t want to sound whiney, but she had a home and she wanted to take a hot shower, put on her clean pajamas and crash on her couch with her roommate.

 

 

“You can stay at the Queen Manor, there is a lot of guest rooms--” Oliver started to say after a brief moment his brows started furrowing when she started shaking her head, crossing her arms in front of chest.

 

 

“Absolutely not Oliver, I have my own home and I will remind you that they took us three blocks away from your house—plus your mom freaks me out” she added quickly pursing her lips into a line. Oliver took a sharp breath, the way he did when he was short tempered.

 

 

“They got you because you were with me, they didn’t know I could escape—now they might know what I am capable of, they also know that you are important enough for me to have you at my house on a Saturday morning” his voice sounded frustrated and her heart jumped inside her chest at his words.

 

 

“I’m not going to be locked away in that house until we find the maniac that is trying to kill you Oliver” she said back, his hand went to his temple massaging it momentarily.

 

 

“Felicity I think you should consider this, there is validity to what Oliver is saying—imagine where your will be at if Oliver hadn’t been with you yesterday?” it was Diggle’s voice of reason, she turned towards him with a frown, not wanting to say that no killer will kidnap a dirt poor IT girl out of nowhere.

 

 

“Now that they know a little more they might try to get you to get to me, it will be easier if for the time being we keep each other at a close distance” Oliver said, he turned around to face her and she sighed loudly.

 

 

“I don’t feel comfortable staying at your mom’s house” she repeated.

 

 

“Okay, then we can find another place—“ he said and his expression softened while he stared at her.

 

 

“Fine, but I still have to go home and get some clothes and tell Rachel I am going to be staying somewhere else for a few days or she will call the cops—she is going to want to know what is going on”

 

 

“Tell her you made up with the kid you were dating, and are going to spend a few days with him” Diggle offered and Felicity couldn’t help but to laugh nervously.

 

 

“I keep telling you guys, he was _not_ a boy” she said her voice came out a little shaky, memories of Barry’s last words to her flooded her mind _‘I will be ready for you when you are 100% ready for me’,_ then she remembered Oliver’s lips on her, the way he touched her and made love to her the night before. She blushed intensely.

 

“You can tell her that you are staying with _me_ ” Oliver said after a moment of silence, his expression was serious. Diggle glanced quickly to Oliver and a flash of a grin appeared on his face.

 

 

“Well… there you go Felicity” Diggle said with a mocking smile, his coffee eyes fixed on her through the review mirror, she tried to suppress the idiot smile that threatened to appear on her face.

 

 

“ _If_ I give her that excuse—which might work since technically we will be together, I will have a hard time leaving tonight from my apartment, she will want to know exactly what happened”

 

 

“I am sure you will have fun making up a story that also covers the fact that you have an ugly bruise in your face” Diggle said and Felicity raised her hand to her bruised cheek and winced.

 

 

“Right…”

 

 

“Good thing you are pretty good at making excuses” Diggle’s words were full of sarcasm and Oliver grinned widely at them, turning slightly to meet her eyes. She guessed if she had survived two scary kidnappers, she could survive making up a decent excuse to Rachel, while Oliver and Diggle planned where they will stay for a few days.

 

 

“It’s important that you don’t stay there more than you need to, you have to be out of there tonight, we don’t want to put Rachel in danger if we don’t have to” Felicity knew he had said this to motivate her, and it worked.

 

 

They stopped in front of her house, a dark red brick building in the suburbs of the city, Felicity took a quick breath her hand holding the earpiece that Oliver had just handed to her.

 

 

“And why do I need this?”

 

 

“If someone is in your house already or you see anything strange, you can let us know and we will come” Diggle said simply, and she nodded putting it in her ear, starting to feel more nervous by the second.

 

 

“Hide it in your hair” Oliver instructed as she got out of the car, closing the door behind her, feeling a wave of nervousness running through her. This had been a packed weekend; she got dumped by Barry, got hit on by a slimy millionaire, and then had a great morning with her friend and possible love of her life eating pancakes, to then be kidnapped and escape, to top it all with her sleeping with Oliver the night before.

 

She pulled her hair out of the ponytail and messed it up a little, flipping it around so it looked half decent. Felicity took a short breath as her finger hit the buzzer on the apartment, her purse was gone, which meant she didn’t have keys, money or id. She had called the bank on the way home using Digg’s phone, there hadn’t been any charges made with her cards yet, she doubted that they would try to steal her money, after all they weren’t kidnapping them for ransom.

 

 

“Who is it?” she smiled when she heard Rachel. She didn't know she had been concerned for Rachel's safety until a wave of relief wash over her.

 

 

“It’s me” she said and heard a yelp from the speaker by the door, and then silence. She put her hands in the pockets on Digg’s jacket and waited, her eyes fixed in the glass doors in front of her. She saw Rachel running towards the door a few minutes later, she was wearing casual clothes and her face looked extremely concerned.

 

 

She felt the air escape her lungs as her friend hugged her too tightly to make it easy to breath.

 

 

“You… where have you been? And what happened to your face?” Rachel’s hand went to Felicity’s face, touching her wound with care.

 

 

“I am ok, lets talk inside ok?” Felicity put her arm around Rachel’s shoulders as they both got in, Rachel took a last glance towards the street, her eyes fixing in the black town car parked outside.

 

 

“Is that John’s car?” she asked, they were both going up the elevator now.

 

 

“Yes” Felicity said nodding, they walked out the elevator, the familiar scent of curry and spices from their neighbors cooking dinner surrounded her.

 

 

“What the fuck Felicity, what happened to you?” Felicity took a quick glance around the hallway, expecting impatient for Rachel to open the door. Oliver and Diggle had succeeded and made her paranoid, but the fact that they were both listening in gave her some weird comfort.

 

She came inside the apartment quickly, closing the door behind her after Rachel had come through, she quickly checked through the peep hole that no one was in the front door and turned around to see her slightly worried friend who was looking at her as if she will have a nervous breakdown at any moment. At this point it was a possibility, Felicity didn't feel extremely normal, or well at the time.

 

 

“You are concerning me--” she said finally.

 

 

“I am sorry, I am a little wigged out right now Rach, I have not had the easiest weekend”

 

 

“What happened? I was about to call the cops if you didn’t come home tonight, I thought it was strange you were out for two nights in a row but was hoping you had finally gotten busy with Oliver... if your know what I mean” Felicity blushed intensely and swore she heard a muffled noise through the earpiece. Rachel crooked her head, squinting her eyes at her.

 

 

“Right—well maybe something like that _did_ happen” Felicity was talking partially with her hands; Rachel was pale all of the sudden, her eyes wide open and her lips parted forming a large O shape.

 

 

“Oliver did _that_ to you!?” she gasped in horror pointing at her cheek.

 

 

“What? No, of course not—Rachel. I had a little of a problem in the party on Friday night, a creepy guy from work started making a pass on me, it bugged me out so I left early and—went to work” when you had to lie to your best friend in the whole world, the one that could tell you weren't being truthful in a split of a second, you had to go with a partial truth to succeed. 

 

 

“You went back to Queen Consolidates?” Rachel sounded disbelieving.

 

 

“Yes, well I wanted to get back to the guy—he is a higher up at the company, and I didn’t want Oliver to get pissed off with one of the mayor share-holders, so I did a few hackery thingies and fell asleep there because I had had too much wine” the harder part was come up with a believable story, something that her extremely intuitive best friend wouldn’t catch to be a lie. Felicity decided to go as close to the truth as possible.

 

 

“So did the creeper do this to you?” she gasped again.

 

 

“No, let me finish!”

 

 

“You are taking too long, and the bruise is distracting” Felicity squinted at her friend who murmured a low _‘sorry’_

 

 

“I woke up and it was midnight so I decided to leave, there were no taxis around so I had to walk to the metro station, you know that the last train leaves at 2 am—? either way... a guy jumped me from nowhere and took my purse, I don’t know why I didn’t let my purse go at first but in the shock of the moment I didn’t and so he hit me on my face and took off running”

 

 

Rachel opened her eyes wide, her hands going to her mouth.

 

 

“Lissy!”

 

 

“I know, super stupid—well I managed to ask a random guy at the station to let me use his phone and called Oliver—“

 

 

“Why didn’t you call me?” Rachel asked sounding hurt, a worried look on her face.

 

 

“Well Honestly Rach, I didn’t want to wake you up with you staying up late so much these past few weeks—I figured him or Diggle will still be awake at the party, luckily he was awake but Diggle had already left, the party was over so he came to get me, I was not feeling like coming back home, so we went to a bar and had a few drinks…”

 

 

“And you went to his house after—and spent the night over, with him?” Rachel finished the story a hopeful look on her face; her eyes wide with emotion and Felicity completely blushed nodding, feeling guilty for lying at her friend and completely mortified that Oliver and Diggle were listening to it.

 

 

“Tell me everything!”

 

 

“I just did” Felicity said with a half laugh.

 

 

“No you didn’t, how was it? Was he good? He has that look of being really good in bed, you know what I mean? Are you guys dating or… friends with benefits?” her voice was rambly and excited, and with each word Felicity turned a brighter shade of red.

 

 

Her friend’s words ran around her head, she actually didn’t know the answer to these questions. But she most definitely didn’t feel comfortable speaking about it while the boys were listening to her answer.

 

 

“I don’t know, we actually haven’t discuss it”” she mumbled, her heart beating fast when she heard something that sounded like Oliver holding his breath.

 

 

“Okay—“ Rachel walked towards the window, peeking out of the white curtains “Well Diggle’s car it’s still parked outside, is he waiting for you? Is Oliver there too?”

 

 

Felicity’s hand went to her head, believing enough in her story to finish it with a gold bow on top.

 

 

“We are leaving for a short business trip, we have to be in the Ney York branch tomorrow, so we are leaving tonight” Felicity said and felt her heart aching; she didn’t like to lie, much less to Rachel.

 

 

 _“That was good Felicity”_ it was Oliver’s voice in her ear, making her heart jump in place.

 

 

“I don’t remember you telling me about this trip”

 

 

“It’s kind of a last minute thing, it will only be a few days” Felicity walked towards her room, the soft scent of the pine candle Rachel was burning in her room warmed her chest. She was breathing rapidly, hearing from her earpiece Oliver and Diggle talking about her New York idea.

 

 

She could then just hear the tone of their voices, but her mind trailed off as she opened the door to her room, her blue eyes studying her bed, her white cotton sheets and fluffy down pillows. Opening her closet door and Rachel’s steps following her to her room. She started to take out a few changes of clothing and her carry on bag that was stuffed in the top higher shelf of her closet. She also got her passport and a little cash she had in her nightstand.

 

 

“You didn’t answer me the most important question though” Rachel said after a moment. She heard Oliver and Diggle’s voices stop in the spot, listening in once again.

 

 

“Huh?” Felicity asked absently.

 

 

“How was he, you know—in bed?” she was curious and Felicity flushed intensely, a broad smile appearing on her face involuntarily.

 

 

“I knew it! He irradiates that… you know… sexy, knowing how to please a woman look, did you guys do it like in a kinky place at the mansion?”

 

 

“I don’t feel comfortable talking about this right now Rachel!” Felicity cried, her hand clumsily going quickly to her ear, turning the device off. She knew it wouldn’t be long until one of them showed up in her apartment if she didn’t turn it on again, but she was more worried about dying of embarrassment.

 

 

“Oh come on Lissy, you haven’t stop talking about the guy for years now, at least tell me something!” she said in a begging voice, Felicity was folding her clothes quickly in her suit case, feeling warm inside and outside, her blue eyes flying towards her friend.

 

 

“The truth is that it was kind of unexpected, we started talking about Barry and then we were talking about us… then we were kissing, one thing led to another—“

 

 

“Who kissed who?” she was glad that they couldn’t hear anymore.

 

 

“I did” Rachel seemed truly surprised by this.

 

 

“Wow, I didn’t think you had that in you but I am glad you proved me wrong”

 

 

“It wouldn’t be the last time” Felicity said jokingly and Rachel push her by the shoulder playfully.

 

 

“I'm sad you are leaving, this deserves a full celebration in pajamas, with wine, chocolate and Mr. Darcy”

 

 

“We will do that, if there is something to celebrate after this trip, ok? I don’t want to get my hopes up and then have them crushed when Oliver decides that he doesn’t want to have something serious with me—and you know I won’t be able to do the whole friends with benefits thing you are about to suggest”

 

 

Rachel smiled at her friend and nodded “well he will be an idiot to pass you up—what happened with his evil girlfriend by the way?” Felicity finished putting a pair of pajamas and her traveling makeup bag inside and closed the luggage zipper, raising her face to Rachel.

 

 

“You know what, Oliver said that they were friends that occasionally dated” Felicity said, voicing out for the first time all that they had spoken in the car.

 

 

“Well, does she know that? And how often does Oliver Queen have friends with benefits?”

 

 

“I don’t know and I don’t know” Felicity shook her head, dreading having to leave, she came to hug her friend tightly. Her hand went up to her ear, turning on the device once again.

 

 

“Rachel, please be careful… the man who stole my purse has my ID, which has this address. Who knows what kind of horrible person he is, the police is aware and I will call them to make sure they have someone patrolling but… try to be cautious, for at least a few days, ok?”

 

 

“Ok… you also take care, and as soon as you have your phone back call me” Rachel gave her a sweet smile.

 

 

“I will” and Felicity quickly put on a pair of light washed jeans, a light pink shirt and her white wrap jacket. She also took her other purse and stuffed her passport, money and tablet in it. She took her rolling luggage and jumped on her spot when she heard Oliver voice in her ear.

 

 

 _“Are you coming?”_ she felt a wave of annoyance running through her, he will get an earful when she got back to the car.

 

 

“I better go, they have been waiting for me in the car and I don’t want us to lose our flight” she took a deep breath and gave Rachel a tight hug, hoping that she didn’t remember that Queen Consolidates had their own private jet.

 

 

“Keep me posted” she said when they were by the door and Felicity nodded leaving with a lump on her chest.

 

 

“I am on my way, and I am alone” she said softly in the elevator. When the doors opened she peeked through and saw that Oliver was in the front door of the building, his piercing blue eyes fixed on her, a hand on his ear where his earpiece was. The sun was already mostly gone, washing red, orange and blue hues on top of his body. She opened the door quickly and a wall of freezing cold air hit her face as she walked out; she fixed the collar of her jacket with her free hand taking a deep breath, their eyes met and she could feel her knees shaking knowing that he heard her speaking about the night before,  and that was something they had not spoken about. She trembled under his stare, feeling as if she had broken an unspoken rule.

 

 

“Did you see or find anything out of the ordinary?” he asked after a brief moment, he was all business again. 

 

 

“Nothing strange, but I didn’t really have a chance to check… with you breathing on my ear and all” he gave her a side look as they both walked to the car in silence.

 

 

He took her luggage from her hand and went to put it on the trunk of the car; she loved the softness of the leather sits and the warm of the interior. Diggle turned around to see her with a smile growing on his face.

 

 

“So—he was _that_ good huh?” he repeated Rachel’s words with a mocking tone, she gave him a murderous look from the back seat.

 

 

“Shut it John” she said sharply as the front door of the passenger side opened and Oliver got in, they were all in silence for a moment.

 

 

“I guess we should head to the mansion first, I will get my stuff and then you can drop us at the Foundry, we can try to check into the phone there” Oliver said, his voice serious and business like.

 

 

“I can also check on the trackers I added to the small deposits we have been seeing from QC, I am confident something will show now” Felicity said, Diggle nodded though she could still see from the review mirror his side smile.

 

 

They drove off from her apartment and she looked back imagining what Rachel was doing at that specific moment, thinking for a moment how her life would be if she had never gotten herself into this mess. Her eyes traveled to Oliver, she could see him from the back seat, his eyes fixed in the front road, his soft voice as he talked about some especial arrow heads they had received, and she felt her heart contoured in her chest, thinking immediately that she wouldn’t have it any other way.

 

 

oooo

 

 

She walked down the stairs of Verdant towards the Foundry quickly; placing her purse in her desk and sat on the chair heavily. The screen was on and still on screen she could see the GPS spot where she guessed the cabin had been. She pressed her lips feeling her heart jump, remembering the cold rain, the smell of west glass and pine needles, the sound of the screeching wooden floor under her bare skin.

 

 

Oliver was now coming down the stairs, holding her luggage and a backpack behind his back. He walked quickly to the back where his bedroom was, getting lost momentarily in the shadows of the foundry.

 

 

She typed on her keyboard, checking all the trackers she had put on the accounts, her eyes studying the screen but her mind and heart set in a spot inside his bedroom, the gray walls and dark grey sheets on the soft bed. She was confused about what was going on in between them.

 

 

Where they together? Where was she going to be sleeping, and where was he going to be sleeping?

 

 

He was now walking out of his room appearing more relaxed now; he approached her and his hand rested in the back of her seat. She closed her eyes momentarily, hushing her thoughts and the fast beating of her heart inside of her chest.

 

 

She opened her eyes feeling victorious that she had partially calmed her sudden nerves.

 

 

“Any news?” he asked finally, his eyes studying the screen.

 

 

“Not quite there yet--- aha, someone did a $20,000 transfer from the QC account to a random account in Latin America Friday night!” Felicity raised one of her hands in a celebratory movement, turning slightly towards Oliver with a wide grin “We have him… or her, because we don’t know if it’s a her… you have hurt a lot of women in the past” she analyzed in her rambly voice, her heart palpitating fast as she read. He gave her a side look and pressed his lips into a tight line.

 

 

“Felicity!” he snapped her out of her sidetrack.

 

 

“Right, sorry about that…”

 

 

“Only $20,000?” he asked confused.

 

 

“Oh you are offended it’s only 20k to kill Oliver Queen?” she said in a mocking tone but seeing his straight face she got serious again.

 

 

“Seems wrong…”

 

 

“This is the same person who has been doing smaller deposits from QC for months now, if we add all the transfers together the sum will be much larger” she said reasonably.

 

 

“Can you find who it is and is there a way to find if this account in Latin America belong to the people that kidnapped us?”

 

 

“Well yes, but it might take days to find who the people that kidnapped us where… I can give you the name of the person here in QC because this time around they didn’t cover their tracks so well” Felicity typed a few scripts, the ID of the person who that account belong to was not American. She went to the FBI database, she saw pictures starting to flicker around the screen as her program flipped through possible matches to the foreign ID and then her heart froze.

 

 

“Oliver…” she murmured as the photo had stopped in front of them, in the screen there was a much younger looking Isabel Rochev.

 

 

“This—she is can’t be the one that paid to kidnap my father, Diggle’s brother, Sara and I in Colombia… she wasn’t even working in Queen Consolidates at the time” he looked at Felicity confused.

 

 

“Maybe we just uncovered a whole different conspiracy in here Oliver” Felicity said in almost a whisper “or maybe it’s not only one person doing this”

 

 

“Well I guess we are taking a trip to the branch in New York City after all” Oliver’s voice was dry and cold; she could feel his grip in the back of the chair tighten. She quickly typed to check QC shares and held her breath.

 

 

“Oliver, Isabel has been buying quietly shares of Queen Consolidates for months now… I can’t believe we haven’t caught this before”

 

 

“What!?”

 

 

“She has acquired a lot… Oh no, Oliver she has been buying them with international accounts”

 

 

“Is she using my money to buy parts of my company?” Oliver sounded enraged, his jaw tightening as each word escape his mouth. Felicity turned to look at him and his eyes were squinted at the screen of the computer.

 

 

“It’s highly possible” Felicity breathed out.

 

 

“Felicity, we need to gather all this information _now,_ I will get in contact with my lawyer and we will fly there tomorrow morning and get this woman out of my company” his hand went to his pocket taking out a new cellphone he had picked up at his house a few hours before.

 

 

Felicity knew this was going be a long night, gathering all the info that she could find to incriminate Isabel. She pressed the call button on her computer and heard Diggle’s voice pick up at the other end.

 

 

“This is Diggle”

 

 

“Hey John quick heads up, we uncovered that the money that has been leaving Queen Consolidates to the International accounts might not be related to the kidnap situation— or it might, we don’t know yet”

 

 

“Okay--?”

 

 

“We have a long night ahead, do you mind picking up Chinese on your way here?”

 

 

“Is that bad?” Diggle’s voice sounded serious.

 

 

“When you get here you will be surprised”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooo
> 
>  
> 
> This was one of those chapters I had so much fun writing. Well things are revealing themselves now.
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter, please leave commets if you can, it really makes my day!
> 
>  
> 
> xo


	12. New York

****

****

 

 

Her hand covered a yawn that escaped her lips, her eyelids felt heavy, and as she grabbed the coffee cup that rested on her side on the table she realized to her dismay that it was empty.

 

She placed it down and stretched like a cat on her spot, feeling tight and tired. Turning on her swivel chair towards Oliver, who was on a table near by in front of the second computer of the lair, his face just a few inches of the screen.

 

 

“You can’t possibly see anything that close to the screen” she commented, her blue eyes following closely his movement as he pushed away from the computer, his handsome face turning towards her. His eyes were red from exhaustion; it was four in the morning.

 

 

They stared at each other in silence for a moment and she moved in her seat her heart skipping at beat under his gaze, he took a breath and his lips turned into a half smile.

 

 

“You should go and try to catch some sleep” he said, his voice deep and it was obvious he was tired but determined to not sleep that night.

 

 

“About that—Where am I supposed to sleep?” she pressed the palm of her hands against her legs, he blinked heavily.

 

 

“In the bed” he said simply turning back towards the computer, though he didn’t return back to work immediately. Felicity frowned thinking it was obvious he was trying to avoid the obvious elephant in the room.

 

 

“Your bed? The only bed in this place?” she felt nervous and her blood was boiling under her skin, happy that Diggle had left thirty minutes before.

 

 

His eyes were on her once again and he looked at her intensely.

 

“It’s a comfortable bed” he said and she pressed her lips in annoyance.

 

 

“You know very well what I mean Oliver” he sighed loudly.

 

 

“And it’s not the right moment to have the conversation you want to have”

 

 

“Well at least you are acknowledging that there is a conversation that needs to happen” she crossed her arms across her chest.

 

 

“Felicity…”

 

 

“Look, I know we just found out that a crazy mean woman is stealing your company away, we got kidnapped just a few days ago and we… well we did some things in that cabin in the woods, unexpected things” she breathed out and her face was warm in a flush, his eyes were bright and round.

 

 

“We _did_ do things in that cabin” he said nodding after a moment of silence “but not unexpected” she blushed even more as he got up from his seat and walked towards her, she felt her heart rush when he kneeled I front of her, his hand resting on her arm chair.

 

 

“I’m not ashamed or trying to avoid talking about what happened between us, I just want us to solve this mess before we dive into it” she felt her throat go dry and she nodded.

 

 

“If I am going to sleep in your bed, then were are you going to sleep? I mean I don’t mind you laying there with me, to sleep I mean” she babble and she smiled at her though she noticed his face was also blushed.

 

 

“I don’t think I will be sleeping tonight…”

 

 

“Okay… I guess I better go to sleep then” she said in a low tone, her lips curling into a soft smile. He rose from his spot and offered her a hand; she took it and in a second he was pulling her up, his other hand rested on her other arm stabilizing her.

 

 

“We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow” he commented.

 

 

They stared at each other in silence for a moment, she noticed his eyes traveled quickly to her lips, her heart never stopped beating quickly, and as she swallowed heavily she squeezed his hand.

 

 

“You will kick her skinny ass tomorrow and get your company back, we have way too much evidence against her… she will be in jail for a while” he smiled a breathy smile, and his hand traveled down her arm in a soft caress.

 

 

“Thank you” he said truthfully and with a nod she let go of his hand and walked away to the darkness of his room.

 

 

0000

 

 

 

 

A flood of memories flooded her dreams, the scent of fresh coffee at the diner near QC, Oliver sitting next to her wearing a gray suit after his trip in New York City.

 

 

He joked around about her becoming his assistant; his lips forming a smile and the soft crinkles on the corners of his eyes made her stomach turn, his blue eyes fixed on his club sandwich, his fingers playing with a French fry on his plate.  She remembered then them exchanging words about Isabel.

 

 

 _“She seems too young to have the experience at managing a facility that size-- and my own father who knew how to do this a lot better than I put her there”_ the memory of his voice sounded annoyed and concerned, his words distant now.

 

Then her eyes opened suddenly. Felicity had fallen asleep in the plane on their way to New York City; she had been holding her computer firmly on her lap and had woken up when it started sliding off her legs with a jolt. She must have made a noise that sounded like a yap because Oliver had raised his eyes towards her, and Diggle’s hand had caught the computer before it completely fell off at the sudden movement of her body.

 

 

“Oliver” her eyes were wide at the memories of her dream, groggy from sleep and tired from the sleepless night before.

 

 

“You were dreaming Felicity” it was Diggle’s calm voice next to her, she turned to him and blushed slightly, nodding while her hands brushed the hair that covered her face, then she reached to her computer feeling her heart chasing inside her chest, her fingers typing quickly. Diggle and Oliver exchanged a puzzled look.

 

 

“Is everything alright?” Oliver asked after a second of silence.

 

 

“This is why I need to sleep the mandatory eight hours a day—my brain doesn’t function right if I don’t—“ she said hastily, Oliver leaned forward and his brows pulled at the center utterly confused.

 

 

“I’m not even sure you are fully awake yet to type that fast” he said softly and her eyes shot up to meet his.

 

 

“A few months ago you came to the New York branch to check up on it because it was a mess, correct?” Oliver sat back his face turning straight remembering; he took a deep breath and nodded.

 

 

“You said that your father’s friend George put her on charge of the New York branch, he told you that she had been shadowing your dad for this job before hand” Felicity said her eyes fixed on his, he nodded again his face turning red quickly as the realization started hitting him.

 

 

“What was George doing _before_ you got kidnapped in Colombia Oliver?” she heard Diggle holding his breath.

 

 

“He was in charge of the New York branch, when Walter stepped to be the CEO of Queen Consolidates he moved to Starling City to become the CFO” Felicity continued after no one answered her question, her heart pounding inside of her chest. Oliver shook his head his jaw tightening.

 

 

“Walter… he married my mother Felicity, he is family. He _didn’t_ do this” he said abruptly, in a defensive way and she shook her head pressing her lips momentarily into a fine line.

 

 

“I know Oliver… after you came back Walter announced in the press conference that he had to leave QC because he had to take his place in his own company, he said that it was time for a Queen to be the CEO of his own company” Felicity paused.

 

 

“And you said you didn’t want anything to do with it, and opened Verdant instead” Diggle said.

 

 

“George Randall was going to become the chairman” Felicity interjected and his brows went up.

 

 

“Randall had the complete motive to want your family gone, he placed Isabel in charge of New York, who turns out to be stealing and buying parts of your company under the radar” Felicity proceeded feeling breathless as she finished, Oliver frowned his hands turning to fists.

 

 

“This makes sense Oliver” Diggle said quickly nodding, sounding upset.

 

 

“When I came back I asked Walter to become my CFO, and since he had more shares of the company than George, he was forced to step down—I can’t believe I didn’t put this together before” Oliver’s Fingers touched his temples, his face red in anger.

 

 

“I didn’t even think about checking his bank accounts, he always seemed to support you in the board meetings, he always talked so highly of your dad” Felicity said her heart in her throat while her eyes tracked numbers and letters in the screen before her. Hacking to his email accounts was easy, finding the emails exchanged in between him and Isabel was a whole different issue, but she eventually cracked through.

 

 

She was glad the QC jet had wireless internet, and by the time the flight attendant came with refreshments she had found more emails to incriminate them both that she could have imagined. Oliver had decided not to call his lawyer until they landed; this was a surprise visit from the CEO.

 

 

Felicity got up from her large leather seat and went to the back of the plane, where there was a small table with a computer and a wireless printer. She had printed, emails, bank accounts, telephone calls. They had managed to find who had been trying to steal Oliver’s company from under his nose.

 

 

Felicity checked all the paperwork and returned to her seat, a warm meal was waiting for her there. She didn’t know how hungry she was until her stomach twirled inside of her, the food look delicious.

 

 

The flight lasted for many hours and it was just enough time to help them prepare for their entrance to the company. They will go to the hotel straight from the airport; the lawyer will meet them there to go over all the incriminating paperwork they had gathered. They will then contact the police and head to the New York branch.

 

 

They didn’t have any evidence to George being involved in the kidnapping, but they had enough to prove they had been stealing and plotting against the Queen’s for the past two years.

 

 

The jet landed smoothly at noon that day, the flight attendant waited for them at the entrance of the plane and handed them their respective luggage as they walked out. Felicity took her bag and stepped out first to the cold fall afternoon in New York. There was a blackout car waiting for them near the plane, and they walked quickly towards it in silence.

 

 

Oliver was on the phone with the lawyer, Moira and Walter on their way to the hotel. Felicity gasped when she saw they were pulling in front of the Trump International Hotel and Tower, the bellhop opened her door and helped Felicity out of the car. She took in the beauty of the building in front of her, the dark glass windows, and gold roof and trimmings.

 

 

They walked inside in silence, Oliver hanging up his phone and putting it inside his pocket. His serious assemble didn’t change until they got into the front desk of the hotel, where a talk blonde woman eyed him up with a flirtatious smile.

 

 

“Good afternoon, do you have a reservation?” she said in a melodic voice, her green eyes fixed intently on Oliver who was serious and seemed a bit out of his element. Felicity moved uncomfortable on her spot, feeling a primal urge to wrap her arm around his dominated her.

 

 

“We do-- Pent House under Oliver Queen” he said, after blinking heavily his charming smile spread on his face to dazzle any heterosexual female that was close by, tapping his fingers impatiently on the dark glass top.

 

 

“Oh, of course Mr. Queen—I will check you in right away” she checked on her computer quickly and Oliver slid the black Amex card on the top of the counter. It took just a minute for the girl whose tag name read Amanda to hand them their room key and gave them a quick explanation to where the gym was, spa and pool were.

 

 

“--And if you don’t feel like having a drink at the hotel there is a really good bar a few blocks from here called Medina Club, I normally go there… they have really good drinks and music” Felicity raised her brow and turned to see the same expression on Diggle’s face.

 

 

“Thank you, but we are here strictly on a business trip” Oliver said in a friendly tone but his smile fading, his blue eyes traveling to Felicity.

 

 

They walked to the elevator in silence; the whole place was elegant and polished. Warm marble floors and walls, gold trimmings and gold elevators. The wait room had plush beige velvet couches, and a large chandelier that hanged from the roof.

 

 

Diggle pressed the call button to the elevator and Felicity took a deep breath breaking the silence.

 

 

“Well, she was subtle” she murmured and Oliver turned a quick glance to her a corner of his mouth going up on a flash of a grin.

 

 

“Maybe she was telling all of us we should go there” Oliver said, his tone sounded light but his cheeks were slightly flushed, which was something new in their stressful situation. Diggle blew out a snort and Felicity raised a brow shaking her head.

 

 

“I am just glad there is a penthouse waiting for us upstairs—and maybe after all of this is done we could have something to drink” Diggle said.

 

 

 

 

00000

 

 

 

“I will wait for you guys here in the lobby to keep an eye on things and wait for  Sandrik (the lawyer), let me know if you need to come upstairs” Diggle said as he tapped his ear piece as they walked in the large lobby of the building. QC New York was a smaller building, but still just as magnificent, Felicity noted. It had dark marble floors, stainless steel tables and large modern light fixtures.

 

 

“Mr. Queen, I wasn’t aware we were expecting you today” said the guard of the lobby getting up quickly from his table, eyes wide in surprise.

 

 

“It’s sort of an impromptu visit Roman” Oliver said in a quick tone, not stopping on his feet walking straight to the elevator being followed closely by Felicity.

 

 

“Should I call Miss Rochev and let her know you are coming?” Roman spoke but Felicity had the inclination that the guard already knew the answer.

 

 

“That won’t be necessary, but thank you—Mr. Diggle is going to stay here checking on some of the security footage from the last few months, if you can please help him get all the security clearance he might need”

 

 

Roman nodded and turned to speak to Diggle who was already in front of him, Felicity turned to Oliver as the doors of the elevator closed in front of them.

 

 

“How are you feeling?” she asked after a moment of silence, her eyes noticing that a vein in his neck was popping and his jaw was clenched. He looked impeccable though, in a light tailored gray suit with a white shirt and a charcoal gray tie.

 

She shivered in her spot and he turned to look at her a slight concern flashing through his features.

 

 

“Are you cold?” he was evading her previous question, but he had a point. She _was_ cold. She had chose to wear a light knee length green dress and a beige trench coat.

 

 

“I could have picked a better jacket—or more layers, but I forgot to pack any of them” she shook her head taking a deep breath “how are you feeling?” she repeated, they were getting closer to the last floor and she was starting to get nervous.

 

 

“Good” he said nodding; his blue eyes fixed on her “you give me some reassurance… I guess that having you here makes me feel more in control of my actions”

 

 

Felicity blushed and a small smile tugged the corners of her lips, her heart beating quickly as the elevator made a soft chime and the doors opened revealing the top floor of the building.

 

 

They walked out in silence, there was soft music playing in the background, which was odd Felicity though, and at the end she could see Isabel’s assistant Marianne, fixing her dark eyes on them her eyes wide in surprise. She quickly got up on her feet, her face growing paler as she realized whom they were.

 

 

“Good afternoon” Oliver said while his hand rose to quietly signal Isabel’s secretary who was approaching them, the words dying in her red lips before they even came out. Felicity gave her a pointed look and quickly shook her head and the other woman just backed a few steps and turned on her heels back towards her desk. Oliver’s face was straight and serious, and everyone in the room felt quiet immediately.

 

“Oliver Queen” Isabel sounded stunned, her dark eyes pealed wide and her thin lips moved into a stiff smile. Oliver entered the room without any other word. Isabel got up from her seat at conference room table in a steady elegant move; she was wearing a knee length black pencil skirt and a silk wine color top. There were five more people sitting in the conference room.

 

 

“I hope I’m not interrupting anything too important” Oliver said his tone nonchalant, but his face showing not one emotion, stern and guarded, his eyes fixed on Isabel in a predatory way. Felicity pressed her tablet against her chest feeling a wave of nerves overcome her, moving uncomfortable under the intense stare of the woman. If looks could kill, Oliver and herself will be dead now.

 

 

“Not at all, we were having our regular afternoon meeting-- the ones you normally can’t seem to make” she said with a quick malicious grin, regaining her lost composure. Felicity though indignantly that no one that young should have the guts to speak like that to the CEO of the company she worked for—unless she was not afraid of loosing her job. The rest of the party around them moved uncomfortably in their places.

 

 

“I will want to postpone this meeting to a later time, I have more important manners to discuss with Miss Rochev” Oliver said a formal smile appearing on his face, his eyes traveling through the rest of the people sitting at the table, who now started getting up.

 

 

“This is in fact quite an important meeting Mr. Queen, and can’t be reschedule” Isabel said, her voice powerful.

 

 

“It can, and it fact it has” Oliver said matching her tone his eyes traveling towards Felicity who nodded, her fingers tapping a few places in her tablet.

 

 

“I just reschedule the meeting for today at 4 pm Mr. Queen” Felicity said matter of factly and Isabel breathed loudly her fiery eyes fixed on Felicity.

 

 

“Good, thank you Felicity” Isabel glanced around as people started to leave the place quietly. Felicity had the feeling that Isabel normally talked horrible things about Oliver when he wasn’t around.

 

 

Oliver walked towards the table his hands fixing the lapel of his suit; she followed him closely as he looked around to make sure no one was at an ear shot distance. Isabel walked around the table straight and confident Felicity noted and her arms crossed in front of her chest.

 

 

“So to what do I owe this pleasure?” she said in a hard tone.

 

 

“I am afraid Queen Consolidates has decided that the New York branch has not being doing as well as we wanted to—we are letting you go Isabel” her nostrils flared in anger her face turning red in a matter of seconds. Felicity was shocked when she heard a soft laugh leave the lips of the woman in front of her.

 

 

“You can’t do that” she said poised.

 

 

“Oh, I am afraid you have underestimated how easily replaceable you truly are” Oliver said.

 

 

“No, I mean you can’t fire me Oliver—you have been so busy sleeping with your assistant that you haven’t noticed that this company doesn’t belong to you any longer” she said with a contemptuous smile appearing on her face. Felicity held her breath at the implication, not being able to not blush intensely while her eyes traveled to Oliver.

 

 

“There is where you are wrong Isabel—you are not as smart as you think you are. Do you think that my company will belong to you when you have been purchasing it with money you have been stealing from me?” the smile disappeared almost immediately from her face.

 

 

“You have no way to prove that” she said and it was Oliver’s turn to smile.

 

 

“You see, while you managed to underestimate my assistant and her intelligence, she was uncovering all this plotting and stealing you were doing behind my back” Oliver spoke clearly, Isabel’s murderous look traveled to Felicity who held her eyes defiantly.

 

 

“I guess you should have done a better job at stealing, you got sloppy last week” Felicity said with a cheerful tone and Isabel shook her head.

 

 

“You have no way of proving anything”

 

 

“Oh but we do… from the account numbers, to the dates and amounts that you been stealing for months—to the incriminating emails exchanged with Mr. Randall” Felicity countered, her eyes traveling down to her tablet with a smirk. Isabel’s lower lip trembled.

 

 

“This company is mine, I deserve it—he promised it to me” she snapped, her face red.

 

 

“George can’t promise something is not his to give” Oliver roared and they were both surprised when she smiled sardonically.

 

 

“Oh but you don’t know… it wasn’t George the one that made fake promises, but your dad” Felicity saw Oliver turn pale in a split of a second, holding his breath.

 

 

“He promised me he was going to leave your mom, your sister and you, he promised we will be together. Our bags were packed— and… he told me this will be mine… ours”

 

 

There was a moment of silence and Oliver took a deep breath fuming “You are lying”

 

 

“But I am not, your dad got involved with his young intern, he took advantage of me and I believed him when he told me he loved me, and made fake promises”

 

 

“Was that why you had him killed?” Oliver retorted and Isabel’s smile disappeared from her face, anger showing through her features, making her appeared much older.

 

 

“Why would I kill the love of my life, my soul-mate?” she snarled, her face red.

 

 

“He was _not_ your soul-mate” Oliver sounded so angry Felicity shook in her spot, her heart beating fast when he gave a step towards the woman in front of him. Felicity’s hand went to his arm, giving him a reassuring squeeze. He stopped and took a long deep breath; she could see that his eyes had closed briefly trying to regain any control he had lost.

 

 

It was then that a S.W.A.T team exited the elevator, quick steps and shouts. Their guns were pointed at Isabel as two detectives approached her telling her she was under arrest. Diggle and the Queen’s lawyer entered the room a few minutes after.

 

 

Isabel yelled she was innocent and the cops took her out screaming and kicking. Oliver sat down in the conference room after the place was empty and quiet. Felicity and Diggle gave him some space with the lawyer.

 

 

She went to Isabel’s old office and sent emails to the company explaining in a formal letter what had happened. Then with the help of Isabel’s old assistant, they both canceled meetings and reschedule some other ones. Diggle left an hour after Isabel was put in custody, back to Starling City to get Walter and Moira who were coming to assess the situation.

 

 

Oliver was concerned for the safety of his family after learning that Isabel didn’t seem to know about Colombia, but George’s emails pointed him to be involved on it. There could be an attempt against the Queen’s after George learned what happened.

 

 

It was 5 PM when Felicity entered the conference room that afternoon; Oliver’s face was resting in both of his hands in the table. She approached him quietly feeling concerned, and when his eyes rose to meet her he looked pained and vulnerable.

 

 

“I should be on my way back home… not Diggle” he said after a moment, and she placed her hand softly on his shoulder.

 

 

“You have to be here, to make sure that your employees know you belong in here” she took a soft breath and sat down next to him, his blue eyes piercing her soul.

 

 

“Something could happen to Thea… or Raisa, I let myself break down and didn’t make the right choice”

 

 

“Oliver, nothing is going to happen to your family—we called the cops, detective Lance has patrol cars near your place, and your mom increased the security in your home before leaving, the place is a fortress—George is on the run, he won’t try to get himself caught in the process” she smiled softly when he blinked, his hand rubbing his eyes tiredly.

 

 

There was a moment of silence and he took a deep breath. Felicity knew he was thinking about what they learned just a few hours before, about Isabel and his dad, about all she had said, and all they had gone through in the last few days, so she got up and was followed closely by his eyes.

 

 

“Let’s go back to the hotel—we need some food and rest, it has been a long day”

 

 

 

00000  
  
  


 

 

 

 


	13. Home sweet home

 

 

Mondays weren’t her favorite day of the week, usually she felt groggy and too tired from her weekends to function properly. This Monday wasn’t an exception, she thought putting her second cup of coffee on her desk absently. Checking the day’s schedule her eyes traveled through the hours that marked the calendar in front of her, at 10:30 am they had a meeting with PNO, 2 o’ clock a meeting with Sandy Mashburn down in Legal.

 

 

She felt hungry which was a bad sign since she had just eaten only half an hour ago, she was a stress eater and by the end of this ordeal, if she didn’t control herself she will end up gaining more than the five pounds she had already put on.

 

 

She blew a soft bored breath and thought about last week and her restless weekend, she remember coming back home from New York Friday night, after a hectic week in there. Rachel had been waiting for her like a kid waits for the winter holidays, with mint chocolate ice cream in the freezer and two different kinds of wines.

 

 

Sure she never though she will miss the hotel’s plush down mattress and pillows, the soft sateen sheets that probably costs too much money for her to even consider buying for herself. The fresh flowers that the maid had put in the living room’s coffee table every morning made her smile, and reminded her of her own home where her mother used to put fresh hydrangeas during spring time.

 

 

The soft sound of rain outside reminded her in that dark cold day that it wasn’t spring time, and she felt silly for missing those days in the hotel with Oliver and Diggle. Sure the week before when they got Isabel out of the company had been a nightmare, but she treasured the nights watching movies together over wine and popcorn.

 

 

_“I though you said we would share the popcorn” Diggle said watching entertained as Felicity crammed another fistful of buttery bliss onto her lips. Both of them were sitting in front of the tv watching an old 80’s movie. She was wearing her soft fleece lilac colored pajama pants with cupcakes in it and a white t-shirt, her soft blonde hair was falling down her chest, her eyes fixed in the tv almost unblinking._

_“We are sharing, me and myself” she muttered absently with a quick smile on her lips._

_“You are way too into this movie… and that popcorn, I still maintain we should have watch Die Hard” he said his arms crossed in front of his wide chest, dark coffee eyes moving back towards the front door, he had heard a soft beep. Oliver was back._

_“You were outvoted” she said simply shrugging her arms._

_“Do you know how impossible that is? How could I have been outvoted when there is only two of us?”_

_“John shhh… this is the best part” Diggle half grinned, fully turning to meet Oliver’s eyes. He was leaving the hotel keys and cellphone on top of the console table by the front door and with a swift move removed his suit jacket, blue eyes fixing onto the screen of the tv._

_“Sixteen candles” he said both brows going up in amusement, Felicity half turned towards him waving a hand in the air as a greeting, going back to the movie shortly after._

_“Just as an fyi I voted to watch Brave Heart instead, but…”_

_“I used my loud voice” Felicity said simply and Oliver walked towards them, his fingers losing up his tie and warm smile spreading on his face. He liked the way this felt, familiar and safe. It had been a tuff day at work; setting up the company so he could go back home wasn’t easy. He had been in non-stop meetings with lawyers half of the day, and the other half in interviews and company wide reunions. Felicity had worked her normal eight-hour day, and by his request she and Diggle both left to the hotel, while Oliver, Moira and Walter stayed behind._

_“Very scary loud voice” Diggle said nodding, also looking entertained. Felicity turned to her friend giving him an exasperated look._

_“Maybe we should have watched Brave Heart after all, that way we will actually be watching something instead of talking our ears off” Diggle turned towards Oliver who seemed surprised and smiled widely not able to hide his amusement, soft crinkles forming in the corners of his eyes._

_“Drink?” Diggle asked simply and Oliver nodded and they both headed to the kitchen in silence. The three of them had been trying to track George during the nights in the hotel, but not having the full access of their Foundry computers made the search that much more difficult. The police at home had been on his track; they had frozen his US accounts and assets, and had found a lot of evidence incriminating him towards being a part of Oliver’s kidnapping in his mansion._

_Felicity turned to see them when she heard a soft pouring sound, Diggle and Oliver where talking in almost a whisper, Oliver gave a quick drink to his scotch almost downing it all in one drink, his face contorting at the strong burning taste of it. Whatever they were talking it wasn’t something pleasant she thought, and her heart jumped when she saw his blue eyes travelled to her, it was an intense look that pierced through the darkness of the room, and she felt herself shivered involuntarily._

_Her eyes moved towards the screen then, a young red headed pouted about her family not remembering her birthday and she felt her own heart contouring with emotion. She remembered the day she turned sixteen, she had worn a light blue dress and her mother had taken her out to dinner and shopping. She remember she had waited up all night with the hopes that her dad will call her that night, falling asleep when the movie credits rolled up and her mother pulled the covers over her and shooshed her tears away._

_Felicity had been feeling unsure since earlier that day, when she realized that Oliver might not need her anymore, not like this. She didn’t need to be his assistant, or go during the nights to the Foundry to run tracking scripts, she wouldn’t see him and Diggle sparred late at night and him going up shirtless up the salmon ladder, she will miss the way his muscles rippled with the intensity of his workout._

_Her heart had been in a knot as she had been quietly simmering in her own insecurities, thinking in her spot that maybe they were talking about her and how to break the news that she didn’t need to be part of their team anymore. Feeling terrified of losing them like she had lost her dad. She had been thinking about her dad when she fell asleep in the couch, the half empty popcorn bowl falling onto the floor when her arms tiredly let go._

_Her eyes opened slightly and tiredly when she felt her weight being picked up swiftly, her cheek resting against a hard warm chest, a familiar scent came to her; sandalwood, spices and amber, Oliver. She made a soft sleepy sound and saw him looking down at her._

_His face was intense and it made her heart sped up, her eyes were heavy and she had momentarily forgotten why she ever felt so insecure. He went up the stairs, the room was dark and quiet and she heard a door closing behind and later her body left the warmness of his as he laid her into the soft mattress of her room._

_The Penthouse had been as magnificent as she ever imagined it would be, it had 3 rooms, which was convenient. Oliver had insisted on her taking the master bedroom, and she had enjoyed they last few days hanging out in a room that was larger than her apartment back home._

_He turned to leave and her hand shot up, grabbing his arm as he froze in his spot peering at her intently._

_“Oliver, I don’t—I don’t want to lose you” she whispered. Silence surrounded them for a moment, he kneeled in front of her in a slow movement, his face was at the same level than hers now, and in the darkness of the room she noted he looked confused._

_“Felicity, you are not going to lose me… what has gotten into you?” his voice was low and personal; she didn’t know if she was still sleeping or awake but her heart was hammering against her chest nonetheless, she swallowed heavily._

_“We did it, we found them and well… you don’t need me anymore, not as your assistant either way, and you don’t need me to come to the Foundry to run the scripts and see you do that stupid salmon ladder” she said in a quick ramble, her eyes wide and blurry with lack of focus and tears._

_She felt his warm hand brush against the skin of her cheek, sweeping aside a few strands of hair that tickled her face; his touch was raspy but reassuring._

_“You can have that job until you decide you don’t want it anymore, you can go to the Foundry whenever you want, in fact it will make me happy to see you there just as much, to help us find the people who are doing wrongs in our city… I already told you this, but you are not my employee Felicity, you are my partner”_

_“Okay” she held a sob and felt stupid for breaking down like this, too caught up in a mixture of emotions. She wondered briefly where her glasses had gone._

_“I though you didn’t want this job either way” he said tickled, his touch had traveled down her neck towards her shoulder._

_She let a soft muffled noise escape her lips, not wanting to give away the fact that what she enjoyed about her job the most was having the opportunity to help him, to be with him. She liked the fact that she had more responsibilities, and got to be a part of meetings she didn’t have before, Oliver always asked her for ideas and opinions, and she could see people around QC were beginning to respect her for who she was more and more. Her hand went to meet his._

_“I guess it has grown on me” she said finally, her voice soft and her eyes closing tiredly. Her body felt heavy, she had not been sleeping well ever since the kidnapping, waking up after nightmares drenched in sweat screaming Oliver’s name, afraid he was dead or gone._

_“Goodnight Felicity” she heard his deep voice far away, calming her down to a deep sleep._

 

 

 

“Good morning Oliver” her voice shook her out of her trance; she had been so lost in memories she had not paid attention to the woman who had sneaked into his office. Felicity got out of her chair with a jolt, her face frowning as she walked loudly out of her office, her ponytail wagging from side to side, her eyes small in annoyance.

 

 

Helena was wearing black skinny jeans and black leather jacket, and was holding her motorcycle helmet against her hip; she flipped her hair to her back hitting Felicity in the face when she was coming close to her.

 

 

Felicity’s blood boiled under her skin and she waved her hand in front of her face making sure none of Helena’s hair had stuck onto her lip-gloss. Oliver was on his feet, his face shocked but a soft polite smile appeared on his face.

 

 

“Helena—I was not expecting you” he said as a form of greeting. She felt a wave of anger and possession overwhelm her when Helena wrapped him in a tight hug that lasted longer than it should have. Oliver pulled away his blue eyes traveling to Felicity who was now crossing her arms in front of her chest.

 

 

“I was in the neighborhood” Helena said casually, her eyes traveling back to Felicity, one of her shaped brows raising and Felicity noticed a slight annoyance appeared on her face.

 

 

“Mr. Queen we have a meeting with PNO in 15 minutes” Felicity said quickly, her voice sharp, not being able to hide her own annoyance and jealousy. Oliver raised both brows; eyes round in amusement.

 

 

“Fifteen minutes is good for me” she assured the blonde with a smug smile on her face, Felicity breathed loudly before turning on her heels and excited the room without another word. She heard Helena’s voice as she sat heavily on her desk.

 

 

“You know you can find yourself a new assistant that is actually paying attention when someone sneaks in on you…” she said playfully and Felicity cursed under her breath, her eyes traveling to the room feeling angry at the woman and at Oliver.

 

 

“Felicity is a lot more than just my assistant” he said firmly holding Helena’s gaze for a moment, his lips tight “and she was right… you caught me in the middle of a storm in here, with what went in New York I have a very full plate today” he said and Felicity couldn’t help the smug smile that now ghosted on her face as she typed on her computer.

 

 

“I saw it in the news, which is one of the reasons I decided to stop by-- I though we could go out for dinner and you can tell me about it… maybe take your mind off things” she said quickly, there was a silence and Felicity fought the urge to look at them. Her hands were sweating and she had not noticed when her fingers stopped moving on top of the keyboard, she was paralyzed waiting for his answer.

 

 

“I—I don’t know if that will be a good idea” he said finally and Felicity’s eyes couldn’t help but to go towards Oliver’s office. There was an immense silence that surrounded them. Helena opened her lips a couple times but no words came out, her pale face was turning red by the minute, her blue eyes traveled to Felicity and Oliver followed her gaze as Felicity froze in place, like a gazelle being caught by the eye of a tiger.

 

 

“I see what is going on in here—you are sleeping with her” her eyes were small and her lips were tight, she started walking with a strong pace towards Felicity’s office her index finger pointing at her.

 

 

“You couldn’t keep your grubby fingers away from another woman’s man, couldn’t you!?” Felicity stumbled out of her seat when Helena walked in her office, followed closely by Oliver.

 

 

“Helena stop” Oliver’s voice was hard and his hand wrapped around the brunet’s arm before she got too close to Felicity who was looking panicked trapped behind her desk.

 

 

“I always knew she was trying to get in your pants” she hissed and Felicity winced at her loud words, too mortified that other people at work could hear her. Oliver pulled Helena out of the office whispering something low that only she could hear. The woman tugged her arm away angrily and with another look to Felicity she walked out, leaving the room in silence after her high heels got lost in the elevator’s chime.

 

 

 

“I don’t think she knew you guys were casually dating Oliver” she sounded breathy and her eyes were fixed still in the point were the woman had disappear a moment before.

 

 

“Are you ok?” he asked concerned and she turned to him frowning.

 

 

“Did I do it? Did I get in between you two?” she asked then and Oliver looked at her confused.

 

“I told you… and I told her just a second ago which is why she left” Oliver voice was an intense whisper, his face was red “she had a fiancé that was killed a year ago, she made it clear she wasn’t looking for anything serious and so did I… I’m not in a position to have anything serious with anyone” he said and Felicity held her breath and felt as if a bucket of cold water had been dropped on top of her.

 

 

“I see-- well I wish you had made this clearer before” she said in between teeth nodding, feeling like a stupid for thinking this will go another way. Oliver seemed to realize what he had just said and took a quick step towards Felicity, both of his hands quickly holding her.

 

 

“That is not what I meant Felicity” he said quickly but she backed away shaking her head while walking quickly pushing past him feeling the prickly feeling of tears bubbling on her throat.

 

 

“I need some air” she muted and when she started walking out of her office she felt his hand wrapping on her arm, the pull that made her turn towards him made her gasp and without time to breath his name his lips were on her hungrily. Her mind went blank for a moment; his kiss was intense but short. She opened her eyes when the kiss was over, but his eyes were fixed on hers. She took a short breath confused.

 

 

“I don’t want anything serious with anyone… but you” he said finally, his tone was absolute and she had to remind herself that she needed to breath to live.

 

 

“Oh…” she muttered, blinking her daze away, her lips still burning from his kiss. They starred at each other quietly and then his gaze moved away from hers, and she knew by the chime of the elevator that someone had come up. He let go of her arm slowly, and he was Oliver Queen the CEO once again. PNO had arrived for their 10:30 am meeting.

 

 

oooo

 

 

Felicity got up from her seat later that evening, she picked up her leather purse from her desk and took a deep breath to calm her speeding heart. It had been going at a hyper speed ever since he kissed her earlier that morning. Even though they had not talked much after what happened, they had been exchanging looks throughout the day. She gave a tentative look towards his office, he was in another long distance call, his fingers were tapping rhythmically the top of his desk and his eyes were fix on his screen as he spoke.

 

 

 

She couldn’t help but to smile, as she had never seen Oliver act so much like a CEO than in the past few weeks and she felt proud. She hesitated for a moment and eyed the clock on her computer, it was 7:30 pm, and she felt hungry and ready to go home.

 

 

She picked up her umbrella by the door after fastening her trench coat’s belt tightly around her waist; giving another quick look towards Oliver’s office she jumped in surprise when saw him opening his glass door.

 

 

“You are leaving?” it sounded like a question but it was a statement, she nodded blushing.

 

 

“I didn’t want to bother you on your call” she was fidgeting with her hands trying to calm her nerves. He smiled softly before he took a deep breath and she was amused to see he actually seemed just as nervous as she was.

 

 

“Felicity about this morning—I am sorry I kissed you like that…” his expression was apologetic and she nodded turning her head to the side lowering her eyes embarrassed as a flash of memories came back to her head and she could still feel the warmness of his lips on her.

 

 

“It’s not like we haven’t kiss before” she said thinking she was glad he had kissed her like that. His smile grew quickly and he was blushing. She realized she had said the last thing out loud and felt slightly mortified and annoyed at her own big mouth.

 

 

“I told you a week ago that I wanted us to talk when things got settled… I wouldn’t say things are settled, with George on the run and everything that needs to get done here, but after Helena showed up this morning made me realized we did things a bit backwards”

 

 

“Like being best friends that slept together after being kidnaped” his mouth twisted into a side smile and he was still red, she pursed her lips together trying to stop herself from saying anything else.

 

“The best friends part is not the backwards thing” he said a little more serious now.

 

“I realize that this is confusing to you, and I don’t want it to be” he continued after a moment of silence.

 

 

“If we talked a week ago I wouldn’t have been so confused this morning, or last week in the hotel” she pointed out.

 

 

“But it would have been the backwards, so lets say we talked that night in the Foundry, and I tell you I want more than what we have had for this last year, that I want to be with you, and then just go back to hunt down who kidnapped us… it’s not the way I want this to be Felicity”

 

 

“How do you want this to be?” her voice sounded small and hopeful.

 

 

“I will like to start by asking you out to dinner” his voice was soft and she blinked twice as his words sank in her head. She noted he had blushed lightly once again and a smile spread across her face.

 

 

“Tonight?” she asked nervous, knowing well she had dreamed on this first date way too many times, trying to remember if she had shaved that morning and what kind of underwear she had put on. Oliver laughed one of his nervous breathy laughs.

 

 

“I would love to, but have a few more calls tonight and Diggle might be waiting for me at the Foundry for some training” he spoke quickly and she bit down her lips nodding.

 

 

“I will love to… go to dinner with you I mean” He nodded and they were both in silence.

 

 

“I better go then, I have actually been hungry all afternoon” she said nervously, hating awkward silences. She waved a shy hand, not knowing how to say goodbye as they were both stuck in this uncomfortable limbo in their relationship. He came close in a stride and hugged her softly murmuring a goodbye close to her ear, sending shivers down her spine.

 

 

The phone ringing in the background broke the spell of their embrace and he pulled away face turning towards his office.

 

 

“I guess you better get that… might be from New York, or better yet your lawyer” she mussed and he nodded.

 

 

“Have a good night”

 

 

“You too” she said and turned to leave, his voice resounded on the empty walls of the corridor.

 

 

“Friday” he said and she turned towards him confused “lets do Friday night… for dinner” he said and she couldn’t help the idiotic smile the spread on her face as she nodded.

 

 

“Friday sounds good” she said and with a last glace she quickly left the room, feeling light and fuzzy inside.

 

 

oooo  


 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wanted to get the chapter out yesterday but wanted to get some more of the last points of the story in before. I have been in a semi trance after that mid season finale. I Hope you liked it, please like and leave a comment!


	14. The date

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a very light, passionate chapter. If you don’t like smut I recommend stopping when it starts getting heated.
> 
> I hope you like it!

 

 

 

“What about this one, does it make me look fat?” Felicity came into Rachel’s room for the third time that night; she was wearing a tight navy blue dress that hugged her curves and came down to her knees. She could feel her hands cold and sweaty as they tapped her hips nervously. Rachel was sitting on her bed, back resting on the headboard, she was wearing pajamas and her dark hair was up on a messy bun. She raised her tired eyes from the book that rested on her lap towards her friend, raising one brow.

 

 

“No” she said simply, one of her hands going towards the thick glasses that rested on her button shaped nose “but neither did the other two you tried on before”

 

 

Felicity made a soft growly sound and her shoulders slumped down in defeat “I don’t know, I guess I wanted to wear something that he hasn’t seen me wear on before… and since we work together I have very few nice dresses that will work for tonight’s dinner” Rachel slid the book off her lap and turned towards Felicity, a grin forming on her face.

 

 

“I doubt he has seen you in those three numbers you have modeled for me tonight… or this date of yours will have happened a long time ago” Rachel said mischievously and Felicity flushed before a chuckle escaped her full lips.

 

 

“No I guess he hasn’t” she said with a small voice feeling a wave of heat ran through her.

 

 

“Look Lis, you look absolutely stunning with this one, or the sexy black one with the chest cutout, or the red one before that…” Rachel got up and walked towards Felicity putting both of her hands on her friends shoulders, giving her a reassuring squeeze “you have been waiting for this date for a little while, but you already have seen him naked so… calm down”

 

 

“Right… and that might be why I’m so nervous right now, the expectation is eating me alive” she said with a nervous laugh and Rachel smiled. She remembered their night in the cabin; his lips on hers when she came into the bathroom after him, the way his hand touched her sensitive skin.

 

 

 

“Do you know where he is taking you?” Felicity shook her head and took a sharp breath.

 

 

“Oh god, it’s almost time?” Felicity’s blue eyes were fixed on the clock in Rachel’s nightstand and gasped, it was 6:45 pm and Oliver was coming to pick her up at 8 pm. She felt a wave of panic ran through her and Rachel gave a little excited squeal.

 

 

“Wear this one, now go and shower and get your hair and makeup done… hurry!” Felicity nodded and with a quick ‘thank you’ and left the room towards her bathroom.

 

 

 

She showered quickly and wrapped herself in her soft terry cloth white robe, feeling more calm as she rolled her hair onto hot rollers and started putting her makeup on. She checked her cellphone and gasped when she saw it was 7:45 pm and she still had rollers on her hair and the dress still lay on her bed.

 

 

Her fingers rushed through her hair loosening the curls after the rollers where off, her feet quickly taking her by the edge of her bed, sliding the dress over her head feeling her heart pounding in her chest quickly. She heard Rachel’s voice from the living room and she jumped on her spot when her phone vibrated and the screen lit up showing a picture of his face on the screen.

 

 

“Oliver?” she answered in a quick tone that she wished didn’t sound so squeaky; she could hear him smiling through the phone.

 

 

“I’m downstairs” he said and she felt the chill of her nerves running through her, she stepped across her room quickly her hands picking the silver strappy sandals on her way out her bedroom.

 

 

“Wow, you are on time” she was genuinely surprised.

 

 

“What can I say, I’m hungry” he said sounding jovial “are you ready?”

 

 

“Yes, yep… on my way downstairs” she said sounding breathless and Rachel was in the living room looking excited, giving her two thumbs up as she walked to the front door. Her hand shot to the coat rack next to her and with a last glance to her friend she left her apartment, feeling her heart threatening to leap out of her chest.

 

 

 

 

“See you here then” he said and she hanged up pressing the button of the elevator five times.

 

 

Her breath caught up on her throat when the elevator doors opened and she could see him behind the double glass doors, waiting for her in the front door of her building. He was wearing a black suit and white button down shirt, no tie and the two top buttons where undone, showing his broad neck and clavicle. His smirk was apparent as she walked towards him, feeling her legs shake with each step, trying to keep herself straight and poise. Both of his hands where on his pants pockets but reached to held the door open for her as she the exited the warmness of her building.

 

 

“Felicity…” he said as a greeting, his voice was soft and his eyes traveled through her quickly, meeting her eyes shortly after, his cheeks flushed “you look beautiful”

 

 

“Thank you” she said her face warm as her blood pooled on her cheeks, she felt herself trying to swallow her nerves heavily and smiled at him when his hand reached her lower back, guiding her towards the car. Her eyes focused on the black Mercedez G class SUV. Oliver opened her door for her and smiled one of those heart-melting grins he had been giving her that night.

 

 

The interior of the car smelled like leather and Oliver and her eyes followed his shape as he walked with a brisk pace in front of the car as she buckle herself into the vehicle. Once he was inside her insides moved with nervousness, she rubbed her sweaty hands against the soft fabric of her dress, her eyes travelling around the vehicle.

 

 

“So _this_ is the car you use for dates” she said conversationally and he turned to her with a puzzled look.

 

 

“Date car?” they were driving now, the streets of Starlight city were busy on that cold Friday night. She turned to him, looking at his profile being illuminated by the city, straight nose, big blue eyes, arched eyebrows, thick neck and she was starring at him so intensely he turned towards her raising an eyebrow, she forced her eyes to the front.

 

 

“Yes, I though it was the Lotus for sure…” she said and he smiled, both of them remembering their conversation a few weeks back, avoiding getting too much into the bad parts of those memories.

 

 

“Well, you did seem to enjoy that one… I figured we should drive something a bit more sturdy tonight, you know in case someone decides to kidnap us”

 

 

“Right, I appreciate that”

 

 

“You don’t like this car then?” he sounded slightly alarmed and she couldn’t help but chuckle when seeing his mortified expression.

 

 

“I like this car very much, I always ogle at them when they drive by me”

 

 

“My father and I used to love to buy vehicles, old, new… we enjoyed collecting our favorites, fixing them up. This one was one of his favorites…” Felicity felt a knot on her throat at the revelation.

 

 

“Oh” her lips muttered slowly, forming an O shape as her heart pounded in her chest, the red light of the streetlight illuminating them both for a moment, his eyes were on her.

 

 

“I don’t drive it often-- it feels different driving it without him”

 

 

“Well then… that makes it a hundred times more special than the Lotus you drove me around before” she said truthfully. Felicity remembered the morning that Oliver took her out in the Lotus, and how nervous she had been. If only then she had suspected that a few weeks later she would be on a way to dinner with him, on an actual date.

 

 

Her eyes focused in silence on the road and noticed that it was made out of cobblestones; they had driven outside of the city. She noticed that they were on a road she didn’t recognized on the outskirts of town. There were older lampposts and large pine trees in the sidewalk and in the distance she could see the sparkling lights of a smaller older part of town appearing.

 

 

There were small boutiques, coffee shops, salons and restaurants she noticed as they drove by. Cars were parked in either side of the driveway, and Felicity noticed that most cars seemed to be nice cars. Her heart was drumming in her ears when Oliver pulled in front of a small restaurant. It had beige and brown stucco exterior, with dark sturdy wooden beams. The sidewalk was carefully laid polished stone.

 

 

“We are here” his voice took her out of her small trance and his eyes lingered on hers for a moment.

 

 

Oliver was not the type that got nervous in dates anymore, not since he was twenty and he had lost count of how many women he took out on small meanless dates. So the fact that his heart had been beating so quickly inside his chest ever since he went home to change was driving him insane. He could barely take his eyes off her as it was, and that night she looked especially stunning. He wanted to surprise her and for tonight to be different, from all his dates and from what she though to expect.

 

 

She nodded and the Valet opened her door greeting her politely, it was a short Latin guy with a nice smile and a dark suit. Oliver opened his own door, getting up greeting the older Valet gentleman that was there giving him his ticket and wishing both of them a nice evening.

 

 

They walked to the restaurant chatting about how beautiful it was there, and he held the door open for her and she gave him a nervous smile crossing the threshold, she was glad the place was warm as it was late fall outside. The restaurant was quaint and she felt as if she was standing in another country, thousands of miles from Starling City in Europe. She never imagined Oliver would take her to such special place, she though for sure she will end up in the Four Seasons, where she had seen him with Helena before.

 

 

She shook her head forcing her mind off that night and how bitter it made her feel to think of him with the brunette, she jumped on her place when she felt his hand on her lower back, guiding her towards the hostess who gave them both a warm smile.

 

 

“Buona sera! Do you have a reservation for tonight?” she said, her voice was deep and accented. She was very pretty with olive skin, dark hair and thick brows, and was wearing a beautiful red dress that hugged all the right curves of her body.

 

 

Oliver gave her his signature polite smile and nodded, his fingers tapped the table just like he had done in Vegas.

 

 

“We do, it’s under Oliver Queen” he said and his blue eyes slid to Felicity and his smile became warmer instantly, she felt her legs shake momentarily under the intensity of his gaze.

 

 

“Right on time” the woman said friendly and her brown eyes flew towards Felicity, giving her an approving wink that made her flush instantly “may I take your your coat?”

 

 

“Whom, mine?” Felicity was a little confused at first, pointing a finger at herself.

 

 

“If you wish, the chairs are a little small back there and the place is warm inside, I promise” the hostess said flashing her a pearly smile. Felicity blinked and after a moment she nodded smiling, putting her small purse in the top of the desk.

 

 

“Let me help you” his voice was next to her a second later, Oliver hands where suddenly on her shoulders and she stopped moving all together. His hands were heavy and moved around the collar of her trench coat, she felt herself shudder as he removed her piece of clothing slowly, their eyes meeting with hidden intensity.

 

 

The spell was broken when another couple entered the restaurant, commenting on how cold the weather was and Oliver blinked his daze aside and turned towards the hostess handing her Felicity’s coat.

 

 

“Great, we will keep it here for you” she said and disappeared inside a small closet next to her podium to reemerge with her smile on, Felicity wondered if her cheeks were bigger because she exercised those muscles so often “Please follow me to your table”

 

 

Felicity gave a quick look to Oliver who had inclined his head to encourage her to follow the woman, they went through an archway, and the room they walked into made her heart stop. It was not a large room she noted, but it was dreamlike. The ceiling was high and white, with dark stained rustic wooden beams that had grape ivy wrapped around them. The walls were red brick and stone and there were a few large iron chandeliers hanging down the room, giving a candle lit appearance.

 

 

Her eyes traveled around the beautiful restaurant, the tables had red and white-checkered tablecloths with another white one on top, there were fresh wild flowers as centerpieces on each table. As she followed the hostess, she noticed that there weren’t many tables in the room, and well-dressed couples occupied almost all of them.

 

 

They were walking away from the busiest part of the restaurant, towards a darker corner where a few tables sat. The large wall of wine bottles at the end of the room awed her.

 

 

She took a short breath and turned towards Oliver who was closer than she expected, his hand reached towards her arm and held her gently, he leaned forward and his lips where close to her ear, she could feel the air of his breathing crashing against the skin of her neck, sending shivers through her body and she prayed she will survive this dinner before her hormones drove her crazy.

 

 

“I remember I owe you a particularly nice bottle of wine… maybe tonight I will get to finally repay that to you” he said and he sounded soft and sensual, she swallowed down heavily and her eyes were on his, tension flowing in between both of them.

 

 

“I didn’t think you remembered that… I did that favor for you like 2 years ago or something” she muted low and nervous.

 

 

“I don’t forget easily anything that has to do with you Felicity” he said honestly, his gaze going down to her lips and time stop for another moment, his eyes then moved towards the hostess who waited for them by their table with a devilish grin on her face. They walked in silence and he pulled one of the chairs for her and she murmured and soft ‘thank you’ and sat down, watching him as he held his suit and eased himself into his seat, Felicity couldn’t help but smile and remember all the times she had fantasized about this night.

 

 

“Your server will be with you shortly” she said beaming and walking away shortly after, her hips moving with confidence at the sound of her clicking heels. Felicity though she might have been the first hostess that hadn’t flirt with Oliver, and she knew she had liked the woman as her silhouette disappeared from sight.

 

 

They were both in silence for a moment and he took a deep breath and she noticed he seemed nervous; she pressed her lips together and urged her crazy heart to calm down.

 

 

“So—what do you think?” he asked after a moment moving on his seat restless, his eyes piercing hers.

 

 

“About?” she was slightly confused.

 

 

“The restaurant”

 

 

“Oh… it’s different, but a good kind of different” she said honestly “I though for sure we were going to end up in a fancy place like the Four Seasons, not that this place isn’t fancy… it is, I mean they have valet in the front and there is several thousand dollar wine bottles in that wall over there, I just… didn’t even know this place existed” she finished with an exhale, blushing. He seemed to relax in his spot, his smile growing in delight feeling at home with her ramble.

 

 

“I thought you might like this better” he said and his voice was smooth and sweet, she felt herself smile and nodded.

 

 

“I do” she looked down to the table to hide the permanent blush she had been sporting the entire night, biting down her bottom lip. She looked up when she saw out of the corner of her eye the waiter approach them. He was tall and had the same dark skin the girl in the front had; he was wearing an elegant black suit with a white shirt and black tie. He had a radiant smile that was bright and he handed them their leather bind menus with a swift move.

 

 

“Good evening, my name is Alfonso and I will be your server today. May I get you something to drink?” he asked and his voice was accented.

 

 

“We will like a bottle of your best red” Oliver said and the waiter leaned into something that looked like a bow and left without saying much else. Felicity turned to Oliver with both brows up.

 

 

“Doesn’t it make you nervous to not know what they will bring you? What if it ends up being a $15,000 bottle of wine?” she asked and thought it was a stupid question once the words left her lips, he smiled a devilish grin and interlaced his fingers in front of himself, his eyes fixed on her thinking.

 

 

“Then I will be glad to be able to share it with you” he said simply and she held her breath. Alfonso was back with the dark bottle of liquid gold a moment later, he opened it in front of them and her heart leaped when she heard the cork popping sound and her mouth watered at the sigh of the red liquid pouring into her glass. She knew they needed to let it air out, but she could barely contain herself into reaching to the glass and tasting it.

 

 

“I will give you a moment to check the menu” he said cordially before leaving. They both opened their menus and she was not shocked to see that prices weren’t listed, and there were only a few options to order from. The names of the food where in Italian, but her mouth watered when she read the descriptions and didn’t take her long to know she wanted the house lasagna.

 

 

 

“So, how did you hear about this restaurant? Have you been here before?” she asked casually after they had both ordered their food.

 

 

“Tommy, he told me about it” Oliver said and his face was soft at the mentioning of his best friend’s name, his eyes sparkling as if remembering something. She nodded at his words; she had met Tommy a couple times in the past.

 

 

“Do you miss him?” she asked after a moment and he was sipping on his wine, his eyes lowered to the table and nodded.

 

 

“I do” he said softly “but he is having fun in France with Laurel, the change of scenery helped their relationship” he said and his eyes moved towards her looking vulnerable for a moment.

 

 

They didn’t talk much about Laurel, Felicity had known from very early on that she had been someone very special in Oliver’s life, someone he perhaps thought will be his wife one day. Of course then he had freaked out about commitment and cheated on her with her sister Sara, who incidentally had gotten killed in Colombia. Oliver didn’t talk much about the whole ordeal, and she didn’t blame him. She knew that when he had return from the dead Tommy and Laurel had become more than friends, and they moved to France a year later, wanting a fresh start far away from memories.

 

 

“Does it bother you?” he looked at her confused intently as if deciding what to tell, she swallowed hoping that she won’t ruin the evening with questions, but too curious to let it pass “that they are together? That they ran away across the world?”

 

 

Oliver was quiet for a moment, he didn’t talk about his most serious past with anyone, Felicity who was his closest friend didn’t know much of Laurel or Sara, and had barely gotten to know Tommy. He realized then that he wanted her to know, because he was a changed man, and she was a big part of that.

 

 

“No” he said finally and took a short breath his blue gaze unblinking “for a moment at the beginning it did bother me” he admitted.

 

 

“But I soon realized that five years had passed and I had no business getting in the way of a relationship that seemed much healthier than what mine with Laurel’s had been in the eight years we dated” He paused, Felicity’s eyes where looking at him intently, listening to every word he said, her chest moving up and down quickly as she breathed anxiously.

 

 

“I realized I didn’t love Laurel the way I should have… we were young and I was stupid, and she deserve better, she wanted more than what I was ready to give her then” he said finally and a smile appeared on his face “she deserved Tommy— I will admit I was upset when I learned they were moving to Europe because Laurel couldn’t stand being in Starlight City because of me, she has forgiven me now and they are both happy, that’s all it matters in the end” Felicity nodded, biting down her lower lip.

 

 

“I never expected you to tell me this unless you had too much to drink or something… and you never drink, like ever” she blurted out and he laughed shaking his head.

 

 

“There is always a first for everything, and I am drinking now” he said raising his glass.

 

 

“Hopefully for us there will be a second time too, and I don’t mean about what happened in the cabin, you know the s.e.x, not that I wasn’t thinking about that because I do, all the time… oh god” her hand went to her temple and Oliver was looking at her, flushed and entertained.

 

 

“Let’s just forget I said anything just now” she turned around to peek if anyone had heard her, and was pleased that there was no one around.

 

 

Oliver pressed his lips together trying to not chuckle at her, thinking she was adorable and sexy at the same time. His eyes went to the table momentarily.

 

 

“There is a lot of willpower at play in me right now Felicity… I have always had to have boundaries when it comes to you, because I respect you as a person, as a friend and as a woman” his eyes raised towards her and the look was dark and hungry, and she forgot to breathe once again “that night in the mountain you broke my willpower and all the boundaries”

 

 

Felicity blushed and her throat was dry, she felt her legs trembled and heat started traveling bellow her waist. She swallowed heavily and then Alfonso was back to refill their wine glasses and water, breaking the sexual tension building in between them. He left shortly after and they were in silence for a moment until Oliver spoke, his tone was lighter than before and his pupils weren’t so dilated.

 

 

“What about you… any crazy ex-boyfriends I should be worried about?” he asked after a moment, his tone was casual and she chuckled shaking her head.

 

 

“I don’t think you need to be afraid of any of my lanky exes” she said flushing, he seemed entertained at her words “except…”

 

 

“Except?”

 

 

“Well, Connor was sort of a hacker jerk… I guess he could do some damage” she said playfully and he raised his brow curious.

 

 

“Is that so?”

 

 

“Yep”  


 

“I don’t know if I really need to worry, I have a good friend that is a great hacker, she will have my back I’m sure” his eyes sparkled under his dark thick lashes and she took a small sip of wine, smiling.

 

 

“A girl hacker, maybe I should be jealous”

 

 

“Maybe you should, she is smart and pretty hot” he played along and his hand reached across the table towards hers. His touch was warm and reassuring and she felt butterflies awaken in her stomach.

 

 

 

The left the restaurant full and happy, walking down the streets of the town slowly, laughing at silly things that happened before. The night was cold but clear and since they were far from the city lights they could see the stars and moon shinning in the sky.

 

 

“Your stomach is very loud when you are hungry” he said, looking at her, both hands on his pockets and his expression were teasing.

 

 

“It’s does not!” Felicity exclaimed mortified, feeling the heat pooling on her cheeks, glad that it was too dark there for him to see her blush.

 

 

“It does, do you remember a few weeks back in the Foundry right before I took you for pancakes?” they both exchange quiet glance and he was grinning at her.

 

 

“That was one time Oliver”

 

 

“It was not either” he said with a laugh, and she couldn’t help but grin as well liking the sound of his laughter too much to help herself “remember in the Queen Consolidates meeting with marketing…”

 

 

“Oh, shush… you were half asleep in that meeting”

 

 

“I was… then your stomach woke me up” they both laughed and then her heart jumped when his fingers trapped hers, his hand was warm and large and they both stopped in their steps, eyes meeting, hearts pumping.

 

 

They were in silence for a moment, then his face was coming close to hers, stopping just an inch away, his other hand cupping her cheek.

 

 

“You look adorable when you blush…” his voice was deep and low, almost a whisper. She closed her eyes when his lips slanted on top of hers in a kiss, first soft that intensified by the minute, she wrapped her arms around his neck, and his hand abandoned her cheek and held her hips, bringing her closer to him.

 

 

She opened her mouth to let him in, his tongue played with hers and she moaned against his lips. His hand gripped her a little harder and she could feel desire in each kiss, each stroke of his tongue. Her body was warm enough that the cold night didn’t face her, and she had forgotten where they were until a driving car brought them back to reality and they broke their kiss slowly.

 

 

“We are far away from home” she said sounding breathless, drunken by the wine and the feeling of his hard body against hers. Wanting to be closer to him faster. His lips where on hers once again, needing more of her taste.

 

 

“There is a nice bed in breakfast not too far away…” he said against her lips and she felt herself shake, taking a deep breath meeting his dark eyes “I… we can go there if, if you want to…” he was studying her expression, not wanting to push things too quickly but wanting her too much to hold back. She looked at his Adam’s apple move up and down as he swallowed and she nodded before rising up on her tippy toes and hissing him briefly. 

 

 

“I want to” she said, they stared at each other for a moment in silence and then he was holding her hand once again, walking towards the restaurant with a determination that it wasn’t there before. She rejoiced at the thought of him wanting her that badly. They got in the car and were talking about wine as they drove further from the city, in streets surrounded by woods and Felicity realized just how truly far away from the City they were.

 

 

“You knew about this bed in breakfast before, from Tommy as well?” she asked conversationally, loving the sights and the feeling of him holding her hands as he drove. He turned to look at her briefly, as he drove towards a driveway; they were iron gates and an illuminated sign that pointed that they were entering the Relais Vedatta Bed & Breakfast entrance.

 

It was a long paved driveway that led them onto a stone and stucco home that seemed to be from somewhere in the country-side of Tuscany not America. She held her breath impressed by the hotel as he parked in one of the open spots in the front. He turned to look at her and smiled slightly embarrassed.

 

 

“No, it wasn’t Tommy the one that told me about this place… I was looking what we could do around here after dinner, since it’s an hour an a half drive back—this came up in my search” he blushed slightly and she couldn’t help but to smile smugly.

 

 

“Wanting to get in my pants Mr. Queen?” she asked playfully and his blush intensified but he smiled back at her, coming closer leaving a soft peck on her lips.

 

 

“More accurately… your dress” she laughed against his lips and the kiss became hotter, they broke apart a moment later and excited the car.

 

 

Felicity waited by the living area of the breathtaking place while Oliver talked to the front desk lady, she was studying the old doors, and terracotta tiled floors and tall white roofs. Oliver came to get her a moment later and they followed the lady towards the master suite, on the top floor facing east to the forest. The room was large and had a beautiful king size bed with white linen sheets and red accent pillows; there was a white canopy that was drawn back on top of it, and the room was decorated lightly with large Turkish carpets on the floor, iron lanterns, and a basket full of dry lavender.

 

 

In the corner right next to the double French doors that led them to a large balcony there was a small cast iron fireplace, standing in four legs. The lady of the bed in breakfast walked towards it with a quick pace to turn it on for them, since the room was frigid. She told them there was homemade granola on the table and brand new toothbrushes in the bathroom.

 

 

 

“Call the front desk if you need anything else” she said and with one last look at them she exited the room, closing the door behind her. Oliver took of his suit jacket as soon as the lady exited and Felicity walked around the room, her eyes travelling around inspecting it, feeling her heart beat in anticipation.

 

 

 

“Do you want some wine?” he heard him ask and she turned around to see him pulled to glasses out of a tall credenza, and a bottle of wine. She was amused about the place, and how fully stocked they seemed to be for everything.

 

 

“Please” she said with a smile, and walked towards the French doors, walking out to the balcony. She didn’t mind the cold, and just got lost on the beauty of the night, the darkness of the trees in front of her, and the clean smell of fresh air. She felt the warmness of his body behind her a moment later, and turning to the side she saw him extending towards her the cup of red wine.

 

 

She smiled murmuring a ‘thank you’ and gave a sip to her drink. She rested her body up against his, and Oliver’s hand came around and pulled the hair to the opposite side of her head, then his lips were on her neck, kissing and nibbling a pathway down.

 

 

Felicity felt herself shivered and took a long sip of her wine, feeling the warmness of the alcohol and arousal run through her veins. She moaned softly against the air, feeling her insides palpitate, and pressed against his front once again, wanting friction. He groaned against her neck pushing forward his now very hard self towards her ass, his hand traveling down her body, to her hips, then to the front of her jacket.

 

 

His hand went inside her jacket, to the soft fabric of her dress, pressing flatly against her pelvis a moment later, pushing her closer to him and she moaned once again. She placed her cup on the rail, forgetting about the wine, wanting something else entirely.

 

 

“Oliver…” she murmured voice drowned in desire and his hands where unbuttoning her coat quickly.

 

 

“Yes?” he sounded breathless behind her ear. She turned around then, her lips meeting his with the intensity on his words. He was pulling down her jacket and they walked backwards back to the room, leaving the jacket at the floor a moment after the doors where closed.

 

Her hands where on his shirt then, undoing the buttons quickly as his hands worked on the back zipper of her dress, she was pulling off his shirt reveling a white undershirt that hugged his chest and every single defined muscle of his abdomen. They kissed once again as he pushed her dressed down her body.

 

 

Her hands going to the edge of his shirt, puling it up his torso, revealing naked skin she had seen many times before and urged to touch, kiss and lick. He helped her the last portion, pulling the shirt up his shoulders, to later work his hands on her bra, pushing his hard body against her mostly naked one.

 

 

Felicity’s fingers then went to his pants, undoing the clasp of them with ease, and pushing them sown his body quickly, feeling desire increase when seeing him on those dark boxer briefs that hugged his very toned thighs. He walked out of his pants, leaving his shoes and socks behind, scooping her up from her but towards the bed.

 

 

She hit the plush mattress with a thump, her body weight sinking into the feather pillow top, she smiled as she saw his body come on top of her, his hot skin against her chest. They kissed fervently and her hands rushed to his head, her long fingers playing with his short hair, she felt the hardness of his arousal against her pelvis bone, pressing rigid on top of her underwear.

 

 

She squirmed under his weight gasping for air when his kiss abandoned her lips to trail down her neck. She pushed her hips up to meet him, drunk in excitement. He groaned against her skin and his lips kept trailing down her clavicle and her chest in passionate kisses, going in between her breasts as his heavy hands steadied her hips down, pinning her against the bed.

 

 

She breathed loudly, stilling herself enjoying his attention as he trailed down her stomach, goosebumps traveled her skin and she closed her eyes shut feeling drowsy with want and a sense of nervousness that started to appear in the pit of her stomach.

 

 

She raised her head lightly to see him trailing down, his lips starting to go over her soft cotton underwear. She felt a surge of panic overcome her and she blushed intensely, her hands starting to sweat and her body shaking with desire. Her heart stopped when his blue gaze rose to meet hers, and a soft mischievous grin appeared on his face just before leaving a soft kiss on top of her throbbing center.

 

 

She shivered and a moan left her mouth when he came down again and sucked her in through her undergarments. His hands came down her hips to her legs, spreading her open for him. Felicity didn’t remember when was the last time she had being this intimate with someone, but she knew she had never felt this sort of exhilaration before. Her breath caught when his kissed trailed down to her thighs, shivering at the sensation she twisted with a soft rushed gaspy laugh.

 

 

She could feel him smiling against the sensitive skin of her thighs, and his hand trailed up meeting her warmness, his fingers going in a soft caress holding the edge of the underwear to start pulling it off first slowly and then quicker when she raised her hips to make it easier for him. Her throat was dry, all moisture in her body pooling down on her. She gasped in anticipation when his kisses started going back up, his breathing tickling her on purposed.

 

 

She breathed out his name in a muffled moan and his tongue went inside of her with a soft flick, devouring her. Felicity moaned loudly, her hands grasping the sheets around her, her eyes closed tightly and she experienced a whole different kind of pleasure. His hands held her firmly against the bed and she held her breath in complete ecstasy when one of his thick fingers went inside her, first in a slow rhythm that started to go faster as her hips escaped his hold and moved to the rhythm to meet him. He entered another one in and she moaned once again, her back arching as she came closer to the top, Oliver went in one more finger and his mouth sucked her clit softly and then more forcefully bringing her to her finish line. She shuttered in the sheets, a thin layer of sweat covering her naked skin.

 

 

She opened her hazy eyes and peered down at him, he was smiling more to himself she though, and his blue gaze went up to meet her and she felt her heart stopped at the rawness of it all, there was pure and utter desire in there. Her stomach turned in anticipation.

 

 

He moved up to meet her lips in a passionate kiss, her hands trailed down his back, hastily going to his underwear starting to pull down with difficulty due to his weight on top of her.

 

 

His hands abandoned her chest and went to help her, his large cock coming out of it’s prison, glistening in the soft lighting of the room. Felicity moved under him with desire, her hand reaching up to stroke his length and he closed his eyes enjoying her caress for a second, she sat down and came to kiss him, never stopping the movement of her hand. Their kiss was passionate and hungry. He pushed her down to the mattress like he had done previous that night and came on top of her, his lips never abandoning hers, and with a push in between her legs he was inside of her.

 

 

Felicity gasped at the feeling of him filling her, he felt large and utterly perfect. He moved slowly, pleasure running through her veins and her body tingled. He moved faster now, harder against her and they both groaned and moaned in each other’s lips, she was coming closer to her peak once again and his breathing indicated likewise. She met his thrusts eagerly, starting to tremble inside and she came with a loud moan, he groaned and a few trust later he collapsed on top of her filling her up with him.

 

 

Their breathing was first quick and then it calm down as they were both wrapped in each other, he pulled out and raised his weight slightly on his elbows, his eyes fixed on her. He smiled, his hand pulling a hair strand that was now covering her face behind her ear, his touch lingering on her jaw after.

 

 

She returned the gesture, feeling shy and self-conscious. She had been thinking about him, his body and the way he made her feel ever since that night at the cabin. This time around there had not been any limitations; they were in a comfortable room, without wounds and sore limbs.

 

“I hope we didn’t wake up the other guests” Felicity said quickly.

 

 

“I hope we did--” Oliver said smiling wickedly and Felicity giggled blushing. She still felt a little buzzed from the wine earlier that night and the intensive lovemaking that had just happened. Her eyes followed him as he rolled to his back, both hands going behind his head, his eyes heavy with tiredness. She got up a moment later, wanting to go to clean up and get them some food from the mini bar. She looked back at Oliver and noticed he was following her naked shape with bright eyes, and smiled at him, feeling weirdly enough comfortably naked in front of him.

 

 

 

**oooo**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this long chapter tied you over at least some before Season3 comes back. I was going to write another chapter to tide things over, but decided to leave it in this spot because I think it's happy and the muse hasn't hit me yet. Might update it in the future.  
>  
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> Please leave comments, favorite etc.
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> 
> Bye!!


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